Message by The Hon. Kirk Humphrey, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs in celebration of International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023

My fellow Barbadians, it is indeed a pleasure to bring remarks, as Barbados joins with the International Community and the rest of the world in celebrating International Women’s Day 2023. I fi rst of all would like to wish all women a Happy International Women’s Day, wherever they are around the world. As we celebrate this special day in the lives of women, I am cognisant that we are in the month of March, and into celebrating the Month of the Disabled. I therefore extend hearty wishes for a successful month of celebrations to all of those persons with disabilities.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”, focuses on the use of innovation and technology to empower women and girls and, by extension, bring about gender equality. This theme is closely aligned to that for this year’s United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting in March in New York, which is “Innovation and Technological Change and Education in the Digital Age for Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of all Women and Girls”. 

While women in Barbados have made significant progress in several areas of endeavour, this theme reminds us that we must seek to pay attention to the digital divide that disproportionately affects women and girls.

The central tenant of this particular theme is that women and girls are the most negatively affected by the digital divide and that efforts must be made to ensure that the empowerment of women and girls in the digital space should be a priority of countries around the world. While innovation and technology are essential for the empowerment of our women and girls, access must be the starting point buttressed by knowledge and skills to take full advantage of the opportunities and be supported by economic affordability. 

Prior to the advent of the COVID 19 Pandemic, the world was already on a path to charting a new way of existence. Persons were accessing a number of social platforms and people were relating to and communicating with each other in ways they had never imagined possible. The age of technological existence was upon us in full and there was the belief that everyone was benefi tting from and making use of the technological advancements. However, the COVID 19 Pandemic demonstrated that this was untrue and that the digital divide, that gap between those who had access to the technology and those who did not, was indeed a reality and that everyone was not in a position to enjoy the benefi ts of the technology.

The empowerment of women and girls through information technology must begin with the ability to access the technology. As a country, we should make all efforts to provide the necessary avenues for women and girls to be able to have access to the technology and therefore to digital spaces. \

During COVID 19, the Government of Barbados through the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training led the way by providing devices to students through the distribution of tablets to various schools around the island. In addition, a number of private companies responded to the call for assistance in equipping students with tablets so they were not left behind.

This is an effort which should be encouraged even in the post-pandemic period. It was refreshing to see that a number of community based organisations, communities and individuals played a role in providing digital access to students who would not have had the opportunity thereby reducing the digital divide. 

Our efforts at providing the technology for the empowerment of women and girls must also include the most marginalised populations. It is incumbent on us as a Government and a people to ensure that the less fortunate among us are provided with the devices and appropriate training which allows them to be part of the digital revolution. Through the implementation of the Community Technology Programme, the Government is seeking to provide universal digital literacy for educational and employment purposes which attracted a significant number of women and girls.

I commend the NGOs’ and the Community Based Organisations who are working to enhance the technological capacity of their membership. In this vein, I wish to acknowledge the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) for their work to ensure that the elderly had access to and were trained in technology as well as the Barbados Council for the Disabled for the training programs made available for persons with disabilities. We wish to also thank all the civil society organisations for their work in seeking to enhance and transform the lives of women and girls in Barbados. 

The Government has sought to reduce digital inequalities and enhance the economic empowerment of women through Trust Loans and Fund Access Programmes which equip micro and small businesses with the skills necessary to perform in a digital environment.

Even as we advocate for the use of technology for all, it must not be used to exploit or abuse women and girls. We recognise that online gender based violence is real and regrettably becoming more prevalent. We therefore call upon parents and guardians to keep a mindful watch and closely monitor their children’s social media and wider online activity. This country must have a zero tolerance approach to gender based violence in all its forms. 

The Government will continue to have conversations with service providers to provide low cost access to technology for all which would benefit women and girls who have been marginalised by lack of access. A prime example of innovation to allow access to digital spaces is through the expanding provision of free Wi-Fi access in the city of Bridgetown.

It is in that spirit of caring and sharing that I want to once again wish all Barbados a Happy International Women’s Day!