Women complete leadership workshop

MORE than 20 women were presented with certificates of attendance following a one-week workshop on transformational leadership, which was organised by the Grenada National Organisation of Women (GNOW), in conjunction with other regional bodies.

Expressing her satisfaction with the turnout of women who represented not only political organisations, but social advocacy groups, Project Officer of GNOW, Lorice Pascal, said that it’s a clear indication that women are ready to lead with the transformational agenda.

Some of the women, who participated in the
workshop, pose with their certificates.

“I am certain that the information provided will help them in making decision with regards to their involvement in social transformation, leading to a complete transformation in leadership positions,” she said.

One of the highlights of the workshop was the presentation of election kits to all of the women in political organisations. These kits contained copy paper, pens, pencils, and other office stationery.

The Grenada workshop is part of a wider regional project to support women’s equal participation in politics, decision-making and the advancement of transformational leadership by women in the Caribbean. Similar workshops will also be conducted in Barbados and Trinidad as these two islands along with Grenada are in preparations for a general election this year.

The training workshop was based on an active learning model that allows participants to analyse, assess and act upon complex issues. It allowed each participant to develop analytical skills, sound judgement, and the leadership potential to effectively pursue issues that are deemed important to sustainable national development.

Among the presenters at the sessions were Dr. Rosina Wiltshire, Assistant Professor Damien Greaves, Claude Douglas and Malcolm Antoine. The presentations emphasised a holistic approach to leadership by focusing on:

a) Building understanding of Caribbean political economy, democracy and development issues;

b) Building skills in political activism through a focus on political party and electoral processes, parliamentary dynamics; and constituency/stakeholder outreach;

c) Assist women political actors to develop advocacy and networking skills in support for gender-sensitive policies/legislation and other issues of national interest;

d) Strengthen women’s political leadership skills and capacities to better perform their legislation, oversight and representative functions;

e) Gender-responsive and ethical decision-making;

f) Equitable and effective leadership approaches and dynamics;

g) Partnership building with civil society for governance accountability; and

h) Effective political and social communications.

The other partners which made the workshop a reality were UN Women, the Caribbean Institute for Women in Leadership (CIWIL), and the Institute for Gender and Develop-ment Studies. (LS)