Successful “LeadHership” Programme held in SVG

The Caribbean Democrat Union (CDU), in partnership with the Conservatives Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) Programme, The New Democratic Party (NDP) Women’s  Arm, The LeadHership Institute, and the UWI Open Campus Women and Development  Unit (WAND) successfully completed a 10-week LeadHership Training Programme in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  

Twenty-eight (28) young women between the ages of 18-30 from various communities across St. Vincent and the Grenadines participated in the programme which consisted of online training courses via Zoom™; a special mentorship session with current and former  NDP female parliamentarians held on February 18th; A Q&A session with two elected female MPs: Hon. Tracy Panton (Belize) and Hon. Emmalin Pierre (Grenada); and two days of face to face training held at the Beachcombers Hotel on Thursday, March 2nd and Friday, March 3rd, followed by a graduation ceremony where participants were presented with their certificates.  

Regional Coordinator for the Conservatives WFD Programme in the Caribbean, Mr Nick  Francis, thanked the participants for making the commitment to attend the online courses and congratulated them on their high level of engagement. He also noted the importance of working together to ensure that women have an equal opportunity to lead and serve their communities in the political sphere. 

Ms Laura Saunders, Head of the International Department, Conservatives WFD  Programme, reiterated the need to empower more women to participate in politics and decision-making and hopes that by providing funding for these initiatives, democracies across the region will become more inclusive and responsive.  

Facilitators of the LeadHership Programme included: 

• Taitu Heron, Head of UWI Open Campus, Women and Development Unit (WAND) ∙ Roshanna Trim, The LeadHership Institute  
• Melisa Belle, The LeadHership Institute  
• Jamie Lee Richards, The LeadHership Institute  

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Mrs Ronnia Durham-Balcombe, President of the  NDP Women’s Arm, expressed her gratitude to the Conservatives WFD Programme, the  CDU and The LeadHership Institute for providing this important opportunity to the young female participants and looks forward to working closely with these organizations to provide further capacity building initiatives.  

President of the NDP, Dr Hon. Godwin Friday, in his remarks at the graduation ceremony reiterated the party’s commitment to increasing women’s political participation and believes that women in the party will continue to make an important contribution to national development. Dr Friday congratulated the young female participants and the entire organizing team for this wonderful initiative. 

In her impact statement on behalf of the graduating class, Ms Vakeesha John noted that the training programme allowed participants to become more confident and celebrate their own uniqueness. Vakeesha also noted that the opportunity to engage with female parliamentarians from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the region was indeed an exercise in female empowerment. One participant summarized the experience as “helping women to see that they have the power within and embracing that power.”