WAFIF WOW magazine Tools For Victory WAFIF WOW Magazine Nov '17 | Page 9

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Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Name-change-for-Bureau-of-
Women-s-Affairs?profile=&template=PrinterVersion#ixzz4xtcB6oSQ
The Vision of the National Policy for Gender Equality (NPGE ) is “A society in which
women and men have equal access to socially valued goods (opportunities, resources
and rewards) and are able to contribute to national development.” The Bureau of
Gender Affairs, a division within the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and
Sports (MCGES), is the national machinery responsible for empowering the men and
women of Jamaica.
The Bureau of Women's Affairs has been re-named Bureau of Gender Affairs via Cabinet
Decision No. 8/16 which was approved on March 21, 2016. This is consistent with
Cabinet Decision No. 11/11 and the approval of the National Policy for Gender Equality
(NPGE) in 2011.
The BGA focuses at the policy level in order to ensure that gender analysis is integrated
into all national policies, plans, programmes and projects. This is necessary because
development initiatives have a differential impact on women and men.
Register with the bureau and have access to the following benefits
1. Increasing access to employment and income
2. Upgrading women’s skills and increasing their access to credit and markets
3. Improving pay, working conditions and promoting the diversification of
women’s employment opportunities
4. Ensuring available, affordable, adequate child care services
5. Providing adequate protection and means to redress women and children who
are victims of family violence, incest, rape and sexual harassment
6. Improving housing supply and terms of acquisition to assist women in the
provision of shelter for themselves and their families
7. Eliminating legal discrimination and implementing reforms necessary for the
protection and advancement of women
8. Ensuring that the provision and distribution of basic services between men and
women is equitable
9. Promoting women’s rights to contraception and choices about the number of
children they desire.
10. Ensuring equal rights for females in all areas of education.
http://www.dogoodjamaica.org/organizations/bureau_of_women’s_affairs
Issue 3: Volume 1
November 2017
WAFIF Women’s Ministry