The Dominica Youth Environment Organisation Inc., the Pinelands Creative Workshop in partnership with UN Women will be hosting a Think Tank Forum in Dominica entitled “Building Blocks for Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Caribbean” on 17th November 2011 from 8:30am to 4:30pm at the Garraway Hotel to examine how vulnerable female heads of households in Barbados and the OECS can mitigate the present economic conditions through taking advantage of the emerging economic sectors.
The pilot project which will also be implemented in Grenada on 15th November 2011 and in Barbados on 17th November 2011, will seek to address the concern of economic empowerment in a three phase approach at the sub-regional level and engages the key target group with key sector experts in a series of Think Tanks as a Phase One Preparatory Stage of this intervention.
As a follow-up it is hoped that Phase Two will engage selected participants in several Incubator Training Sessions to fill skills and knowledge gaps identified in Phase One. Phase Three will seek to move selected participants to implement sustainable business ideas with support from a number of experts to ensure some measure of success.
As part of the phase one or immediate strategy, a Think Tank Forum will be held in Dominica on 17th November 2011 from 8:30am to 4:30pm at the Garraway Hotel. This initiative will engage approximately fifty (50) women (single female heads of households and other vulnerable women, working poor, un-employed) to develop ideas for sustainable development. A proposal supporting innovative and sustainable ideas to empower vulnerable women in Dominica, Barbados, Grenada and will be derived from the data collected from each of the Territories.
The sectors which the Think Tank will direct its focus includes:
• Cultural Industries
• Food Security
• Eco- Tourism
• Energy and the Environment
• IT and the Services Sector
During the Forum, there will be five (5) Chat Rooms representing each of the sectors identified above led by sector experts-
• Cultural Industries
Josephine Dublin Prince, President Dominica National Council of Women
• IT and Services
Fidel Grant, Finance Manager National Development Foundation of Dominica Limited
• Food Security
Delroy Williams, President Dominica National Association of Youth in Agriculture
• Eco Tourism
Sobers Esprit, Tourism Consultant
• Energy and the Environment
Nigel Lawrence, Environment Consultant
The Forum will be action-oriented geared towards gathering information from the participants that will be used to build on a larger proposal which will seek to address the gaps, ideas and concerns identified.
The Forum which will get on its way at 8:30 am receiving brief remarks from speakers and the Forum Overview from The Regional Coordinator, Mr. Rodney Grant, Chief Executive Officer, Pinelands Creative Workshop followed by Sector Presentations then immediately onto Chat Room sessions.
Dyeo get boring no fun, outing and camp. KFC treats etc lets just have fun once again