Haiti, the big picture

By Jean H Charles



The Haitian people, after the birth of democracy some twenty-five years ago (the Haitian Constitution was adopted on March 29, 1987), have put their faith in three leaders to lead them on the road towards development. Michel Joseph Martelly is the last one.

There was first Gerard Gourgue, who never made it to the balloting box as the election was disrupted by gunfire on the sad day of November 28, 1987. The military regime in place then, allegedly under international directive (the Reagan government mistakenly attributed leftist leanings to Gerard Gourgue) opened fire on innocent people in line for voting, committing the crime of lese democracy. Dozens were killed, the proceedings were disrupted, and Gerard Gourgue, a fiery human rights lawyer, never made it onto the altar of the national frontispiece.

The convulsion brought in a slew of de facto governments until the election of 1991, when the Haitian people chose a fiery anti-American cum leftist leaning, former Catholic priest Jean Bertrand Aristide as their leader. The experience was cathartic. Aristide turned out to be a divisive personality bent on pulling apart the very fabric of the Haitian national ethos. Twice ejected out of the country, he is now back home, allegedly as a private citizen interested mainly in the area of education.

There was in between Rene Preval, a nemesis of Jean Bertrand Aristide, the beneficiary of choice of the international community. He was not, because of his persona and his lack of commitment to the welfare of the people, a popular choice.

Some twenty-five years later, after the departure of the dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, the Haitian people have chosen an iconoclast music band leader, Joseph Michel Martelly, to avenge the country and to create a nation that shall become hospitable to all.

The birthing of this dawn of democracy was not easy. As elaborated in my previous columns, the government as well as a large section of the international community tried to convince the electoral board that the popular voice should be ignored to the benefit at first of the candidate of the government in power (Jude Celestin). Later, in the second round, the call was to shake the numbers for the benefit of the wife (Mirlande Manigat) of a former president, elected twenty years ago under a cloud of illegitimacy.

The big picture is: Haiti and its people for the past five hundred years have been seeking its own place in the sun. During the first three hundred years, a bloated colonial class has been living off the land like princes and princesses from the slave labour of the masses who will become the citizens of the first black independent nation in the world.

During the last two hundred years, special interest groups, have succeeded as would have said Alan Beattie (False Economy) to halt and even send in reverse all economic progress in the country.

The literature on sustainable development is now interested in seeking out why some countries succeed and why others fail. I have been for a long time perusing the reasons why Haiti has been and has remained a constant basket case. Some of the reasons are deep and structural. Some are circumstantial.

Because of my long and personal relationship with Henry Namphy (the strong man General after the departure of Jean Claude Duvalier) and Gerard Gourgue, I have tried to reconcile both military and civilian leaders for the sake of the nation. I either did not try hard enough, or the animosity between the two men was too deep and to entrenched. The end result, Haiti missed twenty-five years of solace and good governance!

The structural impediments are many and varied. Using a page story from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I would say at the beginning: “Knowing the right thing to do to enrich your nation is hard enough; bringing people with you to get it done is even harder.” The founding fathers, Toussaint Louverture, Jean Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe knew how to transform the mass of slaves into productive and creative citizens.

They could not rally the team of the other generals to conceive and build a nation hospitable to all after winning the war of independence. As such Haiti lapsed during its first century into fratricidal struggles brought about by interest groups that captured the resources of the country and dragged the nation down.

Around 1911, came about Dr Jean Price Mars, Haiti’s own Dr Martin Luther King, who taught the nation it must love itself and engage in nation building. The politicians transformed his doctrine into a clan policy entrenched in the Haitian ethos today.

Haiti suffered also for a long time from the resource curse as depicted in Pirates of the Caribbean. It was first its majestic mountains filled with mahogany trees that attracted the French and the Spanish. Later gold and sugar cane made this island the pearl of the Antilles.

After independence, corruption and mismanagement exacerbated the resource curse whereby Haiti became the failed-state poster child of the Western Hemisphere. Through dictatorship, military government and illiberal democracy, the nation did not deliver any significant services to its citizen.

Joseph Michel Martelly has demystified the last bastion of literati and pundits who could not believe that the Haitian people would identify themselves with a commoner in politics, backed only by his passion for Haiti as his pedigree, on his way to the higher office.

I am predicting the Martelly government will be a success for Haiti and for the region. He will have enough Haitian people at home and in the Diaspora, as well as well intentioned members and nations of the international community who will lend a hand to build a nation that will at last create an aura of hospitability for all.

After five hundred years, it is about time!

April 9, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Is Barbados an apartheid state?

By Rebecca Theodore



The surfeit of the dueling public and the storm of accusations about Barbadians’ poor treatment of visitors that are not tourists or others of European descent, continue to highlight a fundamental split in the Caribbean.

Although recent developments in the world at large mark the end of legislated apartheid, it seems that its entrenched social and economic effect operates covertly on Barbadian shores. Thus, political, social and cultural ambitions differ tremendously from the glorious morn of West Indian federation, and in its wake the very fabric of national self-determination is destroyed amidst the silence of the masses.

Common sense is no longer the given, but a corrupted oppressive factor in whose reign the seed of distorted perception finds new meaning in a glowing age of literacy.

While opponents consider the analogy of apartheid defamatory and reflecting a double standard when applied to Barbados, it cannot be denied that in light of recent discriminatory practices towards their own Caribbean brothers and sisters, apartheid is practiced both internally and externally in Barbados. It is true that Barbadians have protected themselves with an aggressive nationalism, but sadly enough in the hierarchy of rights; it is not a fair nationalism.

The many xenophobic impulses released in the name of nationalism endanger the future sovereignty of Barbados because it is not a nationalism that speaks of the rights of minorities. Moreover, if the Hegelian dialectic of synthesis lists high autonomy as one of those preconditions that create powerful common mythologies in the art of nation building, then nations are formed through the inclusion of the whole populace and not just the voices of the elites or of the ruling class.

In Barbados’s struggle to present to the rest of the Caribbean the picture of a perfect society or the Utopian dream, covert segregation among its own people prevails, denying the ordinary working class the historical legacies that they had overcome since the days of slavery to their present day liberation.

Unlike other Caribbean islands, where private interest is fiercely protected and states cater to their own people before tourism, supermarkets in Barbados only cater for tourists -- another exchange that deliberately conceals the truth that Barbadians are treated unfairly on their own shores by the white bureaucracy -- an exchange that prompted local calypsonian Gabby to reclaim Barbadian heritage for all in song and poetry. Hence, the Marxist theory that ideologies are conceived from the productive forces existing within the bowels of society holds true in Barbados.

Externally, Barbados’s treatment of Guyanese, Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals has been compared by social activists, investigators, and human rights groups as apartheid on Caribbean soil.

The Myrie affair is not only the voice that speaks for all Caribbean nationals, but also an insult to Barbadians overseas. As this matter transcends to an international human rights investigation, they will notice that with a tarnished reputation as a people strangled from within and one that discriminates against their own colour, they will in time be treated the same by immigration officials on the international scene and their tourist industry will suffer as well.

Foreign minister McClean’s illogical conclusion that “the Jamaican woman lied, since her body was never searched” and later emphasized that “Barbados is committed to the truth to ensure that justice is done” will yield that facts are the worst enemy of truth; and at the heart of the matter lies the complicated relationship of ‘conceptual fixation.’

Minister McClean must pay careful attention to the notion that the power of sentences has nothing to do with their sense or the logic of their construction because words are ambiguous and yield to ‘conceptual fixations.’ It is ‘conceptual fixations’ that still contribute to anti-Semitism, discrimination against women, intellectuals, pacifists, and homosexuals in society. It is ‘conceptual fixations’ that paved the way to the gas chambers, slavery and the civil war and ‘conceptual fixations’ may very well put a dullness on the spirit of Caribbean unity if Barbados fails to examine the problem of apartheid both within and without and the sweeping generalizations about Barbadians overseas.

Barbados needs a new dialogue with other Caribbean states to understand that apartheid is a crime. The Myrie matter questions the expertise of the Caribbean Court of Justice in determining public policy. While not ideal in other Caribbean states, the CCJ is very much alive in Barbados and has authority to set policy and make decisions about accusations of criminal behaviour. The call for the matter to be resolved without further embarrassment and that all government officials in Barbados and Jamaica need to pause and stop talking cannot be muted. The matter reflects a certitude in the ability of governments to determine the truth and in seeing that security and freedom cannot be perceived if freedom to subvert them is permitted.

Thus, at this point, words have taken over my realism but the chaotic and baroque practice of apartheid in Barbados must be examined. The consequences of this duel have great significance for the broader Barbadian society as well as for the future of Caribbean unity.

April 7, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

The recurring dilemma in Caribbean education

By Oliver Mills


Caribbean education, throughout its history, has faced an ever recurring dilemma, which is how to so structure and manage the education system to get the maximum results. But most importantly of all, how to design a system that gets rid of the historical dichotomy between catering mainly for a small, academic elite, while the majority of students leave school without the requisite number of subjects to pursue further education.

This issue is taken up by Rosina Wiltshire, who is reported in the Caribbean News Now of March 23, 2011, as saying that the education system in the region caters to the one third academic elite, while the remaining 67 percent leave school with two or less certificates, and with little option for technical, vocational and skills training, and so are viewed as failures, and see themselves as such.

This challenge to the Caribbean system has both philosophical and managerial roots. From its very inception, the school system in the Caribbean was structured around a certain type of education for one set of persons, who would later proceed to the professions, and another set that would engage in physical endeavour. Hence the distinction between an academic and practical education.

Primary education was designed for the lower classes, while a secondary or high school education, was for an elite. The private primary and high schools fostered an elite clientele, based on the ability to pay, and better teachers and resources, while the primary or public school system catered for the masses of the population, with comparably less resources, and teachers who were not well paid.

Those high school leavers who attained the requisite number of subjects proceeded to university, while those who had insufficient subjects, either went to technical and vocational establishments, or were exposed to skills and vocational training of varying quality. In the independence era, some Caribbean governments tried to democratise education, by structuring the system to accept more primary graduates into high schools, and many of these have done well. Some governments attempted this by converting certain institutions into high schools, to facilitate this increased number. And recently, in many instances, some of these newly established institutions have either performed on par with, or gotten better results than the traditional grammar schools. Vocational schools of various types have also been established, in order to facilitate better opportunities for students, and to supply the needs of the job market.

But why is it that, even in the era of independence, and the further democratisation of education, there are still institutions that produce an elite, and those that cater for another social class? It all has to do with the philosophical perception that there were certain persons who were endowed with an academic ability, while the majority was only fit for physical labour. This perception was also related to the socio-economic background of persons, in essence, a class analysis of capability and competence. The education system, therefore, was a replica of the class system in the society. The school therefore reproduced the social relationships that already existed in the wider society.

Education was therefore the instrument that decided where persons were placed in the social hierarchy. It determined who held what kind and quality of job, who the elites were, and who exercised power and influence. It was, and continues to remain an elite that determined what goods were produced, and services rendered in the wider society. Those who were deemed to posses less abilities became the consumer class.

The situation was further compounded by the fact that, although some Caribbean governments sought at various times to either make education free at all levels, it was not sustainable for many countries. But although there was greater access, those from the privileged classes continued to be the greatest beneficiaries, because of the types of schools they initially attended. Higher education, with its degree structure and grading mechanism, further ensured that only a minority got the requisite grades to graduate with top honours. In fact, in many school systems outside the Caribbean, many high schools only accept teachers with an honours degree. This ensures the same quality of product.

Even in the technical schools, there are divisions between technical, vocational and skills training, although there should be no distinctions, since no matter what it is called, skills remain the critical tools to be acquired. In some of these technical schools, students even do different examinations, and there are also perceptual differences and levels of recognition of particular courses that are offered. This even happens in higher education, where the humanities are seen as less rigorous than the social or natural sciences.

The point is, that it does not matter what the level of education is, primary or higher, there is the perception that some schools are better than others, and some programmes are preferred to others, and seen as superior. Even though in the technical and vocational areas, it is said that graduates of these programmes are financially better off, yet the class system determines that culture, reflected in the academic areas is the pivot of achievement. All of these factors re-enforce the idea, that an academic education is better than a technical or vocational education, although a gradual change in perception is taking place.

But what can be done to change this perception, which allows a gulf between various kinds of educational provisions? In one country outside the Caribbean, all of those institutions beyond the secondary level offering a technical education were granted university status. However in many circles, the retention of the term ‘technical’ seemed to denote inferiority. The institutions were therefore granted full university status, without the term ‘technical’ being a part of its name. What happened though, is, that although they continued to offer technical subjects, other arts, social sciences and management programmes were added, apparently to bolster their image as serious institutions. In addition, lecturers who could not get jobs at the more traditional institutions, were recruited to these institutions. This had the effect of tilting the balance again away from technical to an academic education.

Even in the area of political leadership, the type of school a person attended gives the stamp of eligibility for high office. There was a prime minister of one country with a degree in the natural sciences, whose intellectual abilities were highly questioned. This was because high political office was, and is still seen as the province of persons who studied law, management studies, social sciences,’ and even medicine. The point is, that academic ability and competence are still seen as being embedded in academic subjects, and the other technical areas are perceived as not producing the kind of intellectual and academic competence as these areas. The technical areas are still seen as being ‘hands on’ although exposure to technical areas does not rule out the ability to formulate alternatives, or to reason logically. It is not just the use of the hands.

To dissolve the distinction between an academic and vocational and technical education, Caribbean governments need to undertake serious efforts to educate their publics that it does not matter which type of school is attended, or which subjects are offered, that everyone receives a quality education irrespective of the level of that education. Again, accreditation criteria should be put into effect both nationally and internationally to give credence and credibility to the programmes that are offered, so that there is both regional and international equivalence of programmes, and no one feels cheated.

Also there should be a healthy mix between the academic and technical in all programme areas, as computer science shows, so that arts or social science subjects could be done as part of any programme, with the latter still retaining its quality and legitimacy. Furthermore, the subjects must be taught in such a way that a clear linkage is demonstrated between them, and not as separate areas. If the linkage is not shown, the dichotomy between the areas would be further strengthened.

In a final sense, ministries of education in the Caribbean need to formulate and advance a clear philosophy of education, which dispenses with division and distinction, and advocates the interrelationship of subject areas. The value, and values embedded in the subjects should be brought to the forefront, so that the equality factor is demonstrated and adhered to. In addition, a consciousness raising campaign should be waged by the educational establishment, stressing the ethical content and solutions orientation of the subjects offered at any level of the system.

These measures would serve to break down and dissolve any prejudices against certain subjects and institutions with respect to their value, and contribute to bringing about equality not only among institutions, but also in the wider society.

April 7, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Poor indoor air quality a potentially explosive health crisis in the Caribbean

By Dr Valma Jessamy


On the outside the sunny Caribbean is known for its hot balmy weather mediated by cool island breeze, creating a literal tropical paradise. On the inside lurks the real culprit -- high humidity and temperatures and the ever present mildew.

Because our building designs, laws, regulations and building codes have not taken into consideration the combination of outdoor and indoor air quality, workers and employers are now forced into an unnecessary standoff. Consequently, the Caribbean is on the verge of a worsening trend of sick building syndrome (SBS) as workers in several islands threaten employers with labour action unless they take serious stock of the poor quality of indoor air in their workplaces.

Oil refinery workers in Curacao, government ministry workers in Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, lawyers and laboratory technicians in St Lucia even teachers in Barbados have all either walked off the job or have threatened labour action because they say the buildings in which they are working is making them sick.

With the exception of Barbados, the Caribbean islands have retained the Factory Act, a relic of the colonial era as the sole regulator of worker safety. Even though Barbados reformed the Factory Act and replaced it with an updated modern version to reflect concern for workers’ occupational health and safety issues, since 2003, the teachers’ union has been warning Barbadian officials of the worsening condition of buildings where teachers work.

As recent news reports have shown, government workers in Trinidad, St Lucia and Grenada have had to resort to labor action even in the facilities occupied by the people who are responsible for making policies that ought to protect employers and workers.

The existing legal standard for determining building quality in the Caribbean, the Caribbean Uniform Building Code (CUBIC), succeeds in its focus on structural designs of buildings, identifies hazards in construction and in the performance of air conditioning mechanical ventilation systems. But CUBIC fails to provide a complete regime for indoor air quality, though it recommends the number of vents and windows in rooms and areas of various sizes. This is not the sole fault of CUBIC but the aggravated failures of local architects and engineers to construct buildings with the occupants foremost in mind and of course the lack of occupational health and safety laws.

Since indoor air quality testing is not required by law in the Caribbean, employers face the double disadvantage of not knowing the status of their facilities and becoming aware of a problem only when their workforce succumb to illnesses. And the bottom lines suffer too because sick workers means loss of productive time and larger payments for health costs and insurance premiums. Even worse, business face the prospect of reputational injury as qualified workers will opt out of employment opportunities with employers regarded as neglectful of their employee's health and safety.

Sick building syndrome or SBS, refers to a range of symptoms from headaches, allergies, dizziness, fatigue and nausea to severe cases of respiratory ailments like asthma and lung infections caused by exposure to poor indoor air. A building is referred to as being sick, when there is evidence of a combination of high temperatures, humidity and high levels of pollutants.

Once upon a time there was the idealized Caribbean style building, with its louvered windows, later replaced by ventilated blocks -- to increase ventilation of the inside and reduce the buildup of pollutants. Today, the changing architecture of both commercial and residential buildings in the Caribbean is reflected in an artificial need to keep inside cool or keep insects out, so that new buildings are constructed with poor natural ventilation and the consequential accumulation of indoor air pollutants.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is an ignored aspect of environmental health and management. We often think of the outdoor environment as the only space that needs to be managed for healthy living. However, with more time spent indoors, there is growing evidence that the quality of the indoor environment has a significant impact on human health.

Of course IAQ is affected by the quality of the outdoor air too. For example, a building located along a busy roadway can be affected by vehicle exhaust and dust, which, if allowed to become trapped on the inside, presents a serious case of polluted indoor air.

IAQ is also affected by physical, biological and chemical contaminates such as: dust particles, pollen, respiratory wastes of its occupants, breakdown and release of chemicals from building materials and electronic equipment, burning of fuel for cooking, animal dander from pets and pests, bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Building design affects ventilation, which in turn affects indoor temperatures, humidity and concentration of pollutants trapped inside. Good building design allows frequent air exchanges with outdoor air or "breathing" of the indoor space so that stale air and contaminants can be flushed out and replaced with cleaner fresher air.

In many commercial buildings, ventilation is done by mechanical means through the use of an air handling unit (AHU) as part of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Contrary to popular belief, split air conditioning units (AC) do not provide ventilation of buildings. They function only to cool air and remove some dust particles and reduce humidity in limited cases.

To solve the worsening trend of sick building syndrome quickly we need to perform indoor air quality assessments at least once every year and conform building renovations to standards that are suitable for tropical environments. CUBIC has referenced the North American building design standards when the wiser thing to do is turn to other standards more applicable to the tropical conditions our workers and employers must deal with here at home.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency and its network of government agencies and health institutions recently launched a Caribbean Wellness Day. This initiative must be broadened to include IAQ and occupation health and safety since on average we spend more than 90% of our day indoors. Compared to food and other nutritional intake, air is the largest substance ingested by the human body. An individual can survive for several weeks without [food] and water but only minutes without air.

April 6, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Regional integration and its importance to the growth of the Bahamian economy...

Arthur: Integration important to Bahamas economy



Former prime minister and current leader of the opposition in Barbados Owen Arthur recently expressed his sentiments about regional integration and its importance to the growth of the Bahamian economy.

“Removal of trade barriers is essential for the development and advancement of the Bahamian economy if we intend to be more involved in the global economy,” Arthur said. “The Bahamas can play an integral role in the development of the Caribbean region and the economies of its member states if they understand and maximize their full potential in the ways they can contribute to regional development.”

Arthur made his comments during a meeting in Barbados with Tyson Mckenzie, president of the Bahamas National Youth Council (BNYC), on March 31st, 2011. During the meeting, the ways in which the Bahamian youth and citizenry at large should prepare themselves for regional integration was discussed.

It was further noted by Arthur that the Bahamian people do have legitimate concerns, such as fiscal issues, labor mobility and social dislocation, with regards to the reservations of the involvement into the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). He noted that when he was the prime minister of Barbados and a guest speaker at a town hall forum in The Bahamas, Bahamians expressed a fear of the influx of Caribbean nationals into their country.

However, he urged that if The Bahamas intends to increase its presence in international organizations and/or agreements it must first allow itself to see if its economy is prepared to handle the demands of other economies when it liberalizes its barriers for open trade.

“The Bahamas is moving backwards with reference to signing onto these international arrangements and agreements,” Arthur said. “It should work the other way around, The Bahamas should first explore the means of liberalizing its economy with its own brothers and sisters who have their true interest at heart.

“By doing this, The Bahamas is preparing itself for the international integration with other countries and better and more substantial involvement in international organizations such as the WTO, EPA and others.”

Arthur also mentioned that the Bahamian economy can also benefit from the rights of establishment. It was mentioned that the Bahamian economy has a struggling agriculture industry and it should be moving towards diversification. Noting that The Bahamas depends heavily on the tourism industry and customs as its main sources of revenue, when integrated into certain international trading agreements this would result in the removal of tariffs and barriers related to the free movement of goods and services.

4/5/2011

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

The Jamaican extradition enquiry - was it worth it?

by Oscar Ramjeet


As the Dudus/Manatt Enquiry comes to an end in Jamaica, one wonders if the well publicised and talked about enquiry was worth it -- not only in terms of its high cost, but the verbal abuse and clashes between lawyers, politicians, and even public servants.

Even those who advocated the setting up of the commission of enquiry felt that the exercise was not worth it -- the entire proceedings turned out to be a farce, a gimmick, and a platform to criticise and embarrass government officials, including the head of government, prime minister Bruce Golding, and the administration's chief legal advisor, the attorney general and minister of justice Dorothy Lightbourne.

Reports from Kingston state that the setting up of the commission of enquiry was political suicide for Prime Minister Bruce Golding and his Jamaica Labour Party administration.

People's National Party's lawyer, K.D. Knight QC, was on centre stage, using his legal position to embarrass Golding and Lightbourne, who had no choice but to take the "blows" and answer the questions, although the same questions were repeated over and over and at one stage the prime minister refused to answer after being accused of being a liar.

Political analyst Kevin Chang said that Knight's behaviour has distracted from the issues being probed at the proceedings and said that the Queen's Counsel’s behaviour was out of order and he was rude to the prime minister, the minister of justice and others. Chang made a comment that raised eyebrows when he said, "The commissioners have also been timid about making firm rulings against Knight for fear of appearing biased because they were chosen by government."

Why should these honourable and distinguished members of the Commission be timid? Knight is so powerful. He is a senator, a top notch lawyer and served as minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade as well as minister of national security, but that does not give him licence to bully his way.

He has certainly transformed the enquiry into a different direction, instead of trying to ascertain the reason for the delay in extraditing Coke, and if it was the government of Jamaica retained the law firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips or the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and who should be blamed for the death of more than 70 persons.

Lightbourne made some serious statements that should be tested when she blamed the deputy director of public prosecutions Jeremy Taylor and solicitor general Douglas Leys.

However, what was worse was the battering of the prime minister by KD Knight and at times milking the enquiry for all the political fuel he could wring out of it. Surely Golding, before he set up the commission, must have thought that he would have to testify and he would be cross-examined.

One commentator who was at the enquiry said, "I felt ashamed, seeing him being visibly rankled and literally crying out." The commentator asked, "Did he not know that was Knight's objective? To psychologically destabilise him, to up his pressure, to get him red in the face and then to do so in front of the nation. Did he not see it coming?”

The entire fiasco was being televised for the entire nation to see. Was that a good move?

The Jamaica Council of Churches has also weighed in and chided Knight and others for their "tasteless behaviour" and comments at the enquiry.

The government has allocated JA$37 million for the enquiry, but another $21 million has been added to it and this might not be enough because the exercise has taken more than double the time it had anticipated, no doubt because of the line of cross examination.

April 4, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Men and women in relationships display 19th century behaviour while communicating with 21st century technology

Gender inequalities 'greatly impact rate women contract HIV'
By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net




THE gender inequalities that women face are still a major challenge to eradicating HIV/AIDS related deaths, said gender experts at a symposium yesterday.

Audrey Ingram Roberts, a consultant at the Joint United Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said adolescent girls do not have power to have safe sex.

She said they often have to resort to "seduction" as a means of negotiating condom use - an arrangement that does not create the necessary "shift in values" in male partners for them to support safe sexual activity.

She said women more often compromise their values, and become comfortable with the notion that "I am his main girl" or "I know him now."

Ms Roberts said women's rights are often reduced to a matter of "equality by numbers," or having equal representation of women and men from a numerical point of view.

She said that was the "lowest concept of equality" and virtually meaningless.

The irony of the world today, she said, is the fact that men and women in relationships display 19th century behaviour while communicating with 21st century technology.

She said the cell phone has become the quintessential symbol of that condition: a man buys a woman a cell phone so he can track her whereabouts at all times and monitor who she is in communication with.

Lynette Deveaux of the Women's Bureau said the dynamics surrounding cell phone use say a lot about the ideological shifts that are needed.

While some women are offended by the thought of a partner interrogating them over the use of their cell phone, she said many female adolescents are flattered by the thought, because they see jealousy as a symbol of love.

Ms Roberts said material relations that centre on the question of "What do you have?" or "What can you give me?" have replaced an ideological focus on the core beliefs of men and women about who they are and what roles they play.

She said the transformation that needs to take place to empower women and have them exercise their sexual and reproductive rights must be on an ideological level.

In the Caribbean, 48 per cent of persons living with HIV are women, according to UNAIDS. Women are 2.5 times more likely to be infected with HIV than young men.

"Challenges that prevent women and girls from accessing care, treatment and support include: gender violence and domestic violence; threats of abandonment; low levels of literacy; laws that prohibit sexually active adolescents and teenage girls from accessing care; lack of adolescent friendly health care services; stigma and discrimination; lack of support from other women; and ignoring the basic human rights of women and girls," said Sandra Smith, national programme officer at the UNAIDS Bahamas office.

The mandate of UNAIDS is to assist governments in the development and implementation of detailed action plans to fight AIDS. UNAIDS has developed its 2011-2015 strategy with the theme of "Getting to Zero". By 2015 the vision is to: "Get to zero new infections; get to zero AIDS related deaths; get to zero discrimination."

"One of the challenges to prevent this from happening is the gender inequalities that women face on a daily basis. Gender inequalities greatly impact the rate that women and girls contract HIV. Addressing these inequalities, the needs and rights of women and girls, is critical to achieving universal access and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)," said Ms Smith.

Friday, April 01, 2011

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International