UNITED NATIONS, CMC – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Monday said there is urgent need for stronger legislative measures to deal with the issue of violence against women and other obstacles to gender equality and women empowerment. Guyana’s Human Services and Social Security Minister Jennifer Webster, addressing the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, said that the absence of significant progress in the area of greater civic responsibility and addressing the challenge of prevention and elimination of violence against women, will adversely affect achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. “The promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment is an unfinished agenda which will undoubtedly require attention in the context of the post 2015 development framework,” she said, speaking on behalf of the 15-member CARICOM grouping.