Call for more support and protection for girls

UNICEF’s Representative to the Eastern Caribbean, Pieter Bult has called for more support to ensure girls are safe and have the same chances as boys.

He also urged leaders to listen to girls, protect their rights, and increase funding for programmes that focus on girls’ education and health.

Bult made the calls as representatives from UNICEF, UN Women, and the US Embassy to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean came together at the UN House in Marine Gardens on Friday for #ActivateTalk, an event to mark International Day of the Girl Child and celebrate the achievements of girls and discuss their challenges.

Bult told the gathering that included schoolchildren that girls must be at the heart of efforts to create a better, fairer future.

He acknowledged the progress made in gender equality and girls’ leadership across the region, but said there were still some challenges.

“In many areas, girls are already surpassing boys. For example, young women graduating from the University of the West Indies outnumber young men, and a 2022 ILO report found that the Caribbean leads the world in terms of women managers,” he said.

Despite those strides, the UNICEF official said, “a gender pay gap still exists, with women earning less than their male counterparts”. In Barbados, for example, women earn about 80 per cent of what men do for the same positions.

Bult also pointed to other challenges: “A new poll we conducted in Barbados and the OECS in 2023 revealed that girls are disproportionately affected by sexual abuse and are much more likely than boys to be subjected to forced sex, unwanted touching, and online sexual harassment.”

He stressed the need to protect girls from all forms of violence and abuse, noting that about 45 million girls and women in Latin America and the Caribbean report having been affected by sexual violence before the age of 18.

Director of the Child Care Board, Roseann Richards identified similar concerns and highlighted the government’s commitment to protecting girls, especially those vulnerable to abuse.

“Girls in Barbados are still experiencing abuse of all forms, including emotional, physical, sexual, or neglect,” she said.

To address these issues, the government is enhancing child protection legislation and a secure treatment facility is to be created to provide psychosocial support for children in need, particularly those in State care.

UN Women’s Representative, Tonni Brodber, noted that International Day of the Girl Child does not seek to ignore boys.

“It is a day that focuses on girl children and your support of them,” she said, urging girls to envision themselves as future leaders.

Referencing the global push for women’s empowerment that began in Beijing 30 years ago, Brodber added: “Thirty years ago, 189 countries decided what the future should look like for girls, women, boys, and men. Today, we still see many girls struggling to claim education in fields like science, technology, engineering, and math.”

(LG)