Directors and coordinators of the Women’s Gender Bureaux from Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will meet in Barbados on February 23 and 24. The aim of the meeting is to discuss preparations for the Fifty-Ninth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, scheduled for 9–20 March 2015 in New York, and follow-up on deliberations from  the Caribbean Technical Meeting on theBeijing + 20 Review convened by UN ECLAC in November 2014.

The Meeting will also assist Member States to prepare for the Post-2015 Development Agendanegotiations, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls - and on the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming across the other Goals.

According to Dr. Hilary Brown, CARICOM Programme Manager responsible for Gender and Development, the convening of this Meeting is an important step in building a unified voice for the Caribbean Region to ensure Caribbean-specific goals and targets are considered in shaping these international frameworks.

She further noted that partner organizations are aiming to determine priority actions for achieving gender equality in the Region with a view to establishing a five-year plan and seeking funding to carry out the plan.

Representatives of non-governmental organisations from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago; representatives from the University of the West Indies, the Canadian Government, the European Union and a range of United Nations (UN) agencies will participate in the discussions. CARICOM is convening the meeting with the support of UN Women, Cuso International and the Caribbean Development Bank which will also have representatives present.

Permanent Missions to the UN of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago will be in attendance from New York.