Who will receive the Ninth CARICOM Triennial Award for Women?

Jun 18, 2008 News

Come July 1, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be conferring its prestigious CARICOM Triennial Award for Women on another outstanding Caribbean woman who has made singular contribution to national development and the development of the Community.

The Award will be presented at the Opening Ceremony of the Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, and the recipient will be joining the ranks of eight other outstanding women who have received this Award since its inception in 1983.

In 1983, during a meeting of Ministers of Women’s Affairs to commemorate to CARICOM’s Tenth Anniversary, it was recognized that the 1973 Treaty of Chaguaramas addressed the need to examine the position of women in the Region.

Evolving out of the deliberations was the recommendation to confer an award to an outstanding CARICOM woman whose work had made a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the Caribbean.

The first Award was made in 1984 to Ms. Nesta Patrick, national of Trinidad and Tobago.

Thereafter seven women have received this prominent Award for their dedication and determination in broadening the parameters of existence for women and improving their economic, social, political, cultural and legal status.

They are The late Dame Nita Barrow, national of Barbados in 1987, Dr. Peggy Antrobus, national of Grenada and citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 1990; Ms. Magda Pollard, national of Guyana, 1993; Dr. Lucille Mair, national of Jamaica, 1996; Professor Joycelin Massiah, national of Guyana and citizen of Barbados, 1999; Professor Rhoda Reddock, national of Trinidad and Tobago, 2002 and Justice Desiree Bernard, national of Guyana in 2005.

Nominations for the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women scheme are usually submitted to the Secretary-General and recommendations for the Award made by a Regional Selection Committee, comprising representatives of selected Member States in rotation.

Initially, the major selection criterion for the Award focused on significant contributions that the nominees have made that were considered to be of regional significance.

However, the basis for selecting recipients on account of regional contributions became a matter for consideration at a Meeting of CARICOM Ministers attending a Policy Roundtable on Gender and Development in October 2001.

The Meeting reviewed the conferment of the Award and the selection criteria used and recommended that alongside regional contributions, selection should allow for consideration of “regional impact of national level service.”

As a result, the work of women at the national level which impacts other countries is now considered along with their direct regional contributions.

Less significance is placed on academic qualifications in determining the woman to be honoured.

Thus, the Ninth Triennial Awardee joins a legion of select women who have made significant contributions at the national and regional level in various fields of endeavours that have impacted the social and economic development of the Community.

The question remains: who will be the 2008 Awardee?
The answer resounds on the evening of 1st July 2008 (Caricom Secretariat).