What started out as a friendly netball competition in Flankers, St James and surrounding communities, transcended into a movement that has impacted more than 100 women in the parish. On Thursday (July 23) the Social Development Commission’s (SDC) Montego Bay parish office hosted their first Women Empowerment Forum and Opportunity Fair, at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre.
Executive Director of the Social Development Commission, Mr Omar Frith while delivering his remarks, posits that some of the SDC’s greatest successes are attributed to women.
“We know, that when women succeed families become stronger, communities become more resilient, and local economies grow and of course our nation prospers… indeed the work of the SDC reflects and embodies the fact that we value our women and not only do we value our women but their work and presents demonstrates tremendous value to the SDC’s work,” he said.
He further added that more 60% of the Agencies Local Economic Development Support Programme (LEDSP) are led by women.
“Women are not just recipients of service and support, women are creating opportunities and building our local economy and so today’s initiative demonstrates that we are not seeing you as passive recipients of charity but you are contributing to building this nation and so investment in you is extremely important” he added during his remarks.
For her part, Keynote Speaker and Principal of Flankers Primary School, Ms Collette Barnes, shared her journey with the women in attendance and encouraged them to show up and show out for themselves.
“Don’t just show up, show out as well, if I did it, you can do it as well, where do you see yourself? Where do you see you ten years from now? Education is the only way out,” she said
“Don’t ever dim your shine to please nobody, I’m tell you all of this, if I did it, and I’m doing it, you can do it as well,” she added.
She further encouraged attendees to make full use of the entities represented at the opportunity fair.
“So different many agencies are here now, make use of them, what are you doing for you? Don’t just sit down…never be dependent… spend some time and empower yourself” Ms Barnes continued.
Meanwhile, the presence of stakeholders such as MBJ Airport, Sandals Resorts and Digicel, all represented by women, further underscored their support for the initiative.
The idea was conceptualized by SDC’s Community Liaison Officer, Warren Morle, who saw the need to do more to meet the needs of the women in the Montego Bay business district and surrounding communities.
