It’s International Human Rights Day, and it’s not just a hashtag. A lot has been going through my mind today. These are stormy times, with the wind blowing first one way and then the other. A sudden rogue wave appears and nearly knocks you off your feet. 2021 has been strangely – and perhaps surprisingly … More Human rights in Jamaica and beyond – past and present
I have a mental gathering of “Jamaicans I admire” in my head. They never cease to inspire me. They are young, and older, and in between, and in all walks of life. Linnette Vassell is one. This quiet afternoon – the first in three days of COVID-19 lockdown – I listened to a short interview … More Jamaican gender activist Linnette Vassell tells older women: “Step out of fear”
Just a couple of days ago, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, frowning heavily as he spoke at the opening of a new police station in his own constituency of Olympic Gardens, Kingston: There is no doubt that our use of States of Public Emergency has worked to reduce murders and shootings where ever they have … More A strictly security-focused approach to crime prevention is costly, ineffective and paves the way for human rights violations
Tomorrow (Monday, March 8) is International Women’s Day. So, tomorrow, women (and men, and all gender identities) are being asked to raise their right hand symbolically in a gesture to suggest that they #ChooseToChallenge inequality, discrimination, bias and stereotypes. It’s a call to action. As Joy Crawford, Executive Director of the Jamaican non-profit organization Eve … More Real Leadership on International Women’s Day – Choosing to Challenge the Status Quo
A wave of anger surged on social media recently, after Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck made a casual (and at the same time pointed) remark regarding the #MeToo movement at a parliamentary committee meeting examining proposed Sexual Harassment legislation. Minister Chuck’s observations, captured on a television news report, were: “We don’t want the situation that now happens … More JFJ Delivers Open Letter with 2,730 Signatures to Parliament Demanding Legal Reform on Sexual Harassment Bill
I have done a lot of celebrating in the past week or two, as we move down towards Christmas. One project that I am proud to have been involved with (in a small way) was the Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre’s (WROC) Strengthening a Culture of Integrity in Jamaica project, implemented in collaboration with National Integrity Action … More Women’s Empowerment Group Graduates From Integrity and Advocacy Programme in Style
Human Rights Day this year was particularly significant for the world. We have to think “world” on Human Rights Day, and then get out our magnifying glasses and zoom in on a map of Jamaica and the Caribbean. For all of us, it was the 70th Anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of … More Human Rights Day in Jamaica: Against a Background of the Arts, Much to Be Done
Yesterday in Parliament, Juliet Cuthbert Flynn filed a Private Member’s Motion for the repeal of two sections of the Offences Against the Persons Act. She would like the House of Representatives to consider the recommendations of the Abortion Policy Group – in 2007, eleven years ago – established to provide guidance on the matter. Here … More Advocates for Partnership for the Promotion of Patients’ Rights in Maternal, Neonatal and Infant Health Support MP Cuthbert Flynn’s Motion to Decriminalise Abortion in Jamaica
Fi Wi Jamaica seems to me so much more than a “project.” It is two years old already, with one more year to go. I really wish it could go on beyond 2018, because it has done so much. One of Fi Wi Jamaica‘s strengths, I believe, is partnerships. Last year I had the pleasure … More Fi Wi Jamaica: Past, Present and Future
The most recent Photo Challenge was simply: “Wish.” Late last year, I attended the UN Development Programme’s Social Good Summit in Kingston. The focus was on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are all diligently working towards them, but in a sense they remain just wishes, to be fully attained at some time in the … More Weekly Photo Challenge: Wish (And Hope) in Jamaica
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