The Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) had a successful 2020/2021 academic year amid several challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Institute’s staff worked with dedication and innovation towards the fulfilment of the objectives of the University’s 2017–2022 Strategic Plan, under its central pillars of Access, Alignment, and Agility. The IGDS also remained committed to its mission: “To produce and disseminate knowledge to transform gender relations in the Caribbean, in support of The UWI’s mission to enhance regional and international development”.
ACCESS
The IGDS continued to focus on increasing enrolment and participation, and effectively delivering quality academic programmes while improving student development and capacity, research and publication outputs, as well as providing support for various governmental and other partners.
Teaching and learning
During the academic year, teaching was delivered at the undergraduate and graduate levels, mostly online with the NBU utilising a blended approach. Student enrolment was as follows:
Undergraduate
A total of 1,184 students were registered in 33 courses across the Units as follows:
- 676 in 17 courses with 69 Majors at the Mona Unit (MU)
- 121 at the Nita Barrow Unit (NBU) in six courses
- 387 at the St. Augustine Unit (SAU), in ten courses with 14 Minors.
Graduate
At the graduate level, a total of 89 students were registered, 22 at the NBU, 33 at the Regional Coordinating Office (RCO), and 34 at the SAU.
Non-UWI customers
The IGDS also designed and delivered training under various projects with the development of accompanying pedagogical and facilitation materials. Of note, the NBU delivered the 14th session of the “Caribbean Institute for Gender and Development (CIGAD): An Intensive Training Programme” in June and July 2021. Over 80 regional and international applicants were received for the programme, which was converted for online delivery. Also, the NBU convened a Gender Issues in Education Committee on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training of Barbados.
Improving the quality of teaching, learning and student development
The Institute continued to utilise diverse approaches, including virtual seminars and workshops, among other activities, to improve the quality of teaching and learning, and extend student support. Noted highlights included:
- The MU’s and SAU’s participation in a course sharing pilot for Cinema and Gender (GEND 2104/FILM 2101). The course was offered by the SAU and was completed by one MU student.
- The NBU expanded cooperation under its MoU with UN WOMEN Caribbean Multi-country Office to include paid internships for NBU MSc students.
- NBU’s hosting of the Caribbean “Women: Catalysts for Change” public lecture series with participation and attendance from local, regional, and international partners and guests.
- The RCO’s implementation of a weekly regional IGDS workshop series for graduate students, which provided support for students in areas such as Critical Reading and Writing, Preparation for Ethics Submission, and Data Collection, while drawing on the expertise of staff across the region.
- The RCO held one MPhil/PhD seminar and the SAU hosted five.
- Adrina Ebanks was elected as the Guild Representative for 2021/2022 on the Mona Campus.
Honours and Awards
The following were highlights:
- The MU, in collaboration with the IGDS Guild Committee, hosted its inaugural Student Awards Ceremony via Zoom in March 2021. Seventeen students with GPAs of 2.50 and above for the 2019/2020 received awards.
- MSc student, Stacy Palmer, became the third recipient of the Catherine James Scholarship at the RCO.
- The NBU established the Ann Denis Scholarship for Feminist Research from grant funds (BDS$30,000) that were bequeathed by Professor Ann Denis. Two scholarships will be offered for three years.
ALIGNMENT
The Institute was involved in multiple research and outreach projects, activism and public advocacy building initiatives with local, regional and international partners.
Promote greater activism and public advocacy
The IGDS’ emphasis on activism and public advocacy was evident by the range of its programmes during the academic year, and more specifically during internationally observed days, such as International Women’s Day (IWD), International Men’s Day, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Some of the highlights included:
- The MU’s hosting of two workshops on gender-based violence (GBV) for affected women in August Town at the invitation of The Mona Social Services (MSS), the promotion of positive conversations about masculinity on IMD 2020 and the implementation of a Rickshaw Project with Recycling Partners of Jamaica (RPJ) and the MSS.
- The NBU’s historic role as lead organisers of the inaugural Gender and Development Forum at the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, fulfilling partnerships at a global level.
- Faculty of the NBU served on the regional Gender Equality Coordination Group co-hosted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and UN Women Caribbean Multi-country office.
- The RCO hosted seven webinars on diverse topics such as “Environmental Justice: Protecting the Constitutional Rights of Nature”, “Positive Fatherhood and Paternity Rights”, and “Practical Strategies for Monitoring and Dealing with GBV within Vulnerable Communities”. Two of the webinars were convened for high school students and one, “I.S.O.A.R Caribbean Youth Webinar: Caribbean Youth Perspectives on Adapting to COVID-19” was a regional webinar.
- The RCO staged the Thursday in Black Campaign to End GBV with Headlights in May 2021 to raise awareness about GBV.
- The SAU was co-lead on the Social Impact and Gender Component of the FISH4ACP Developing Sustainable Value Chains for Aquatic Products (Guyana) undertaken in collaboration with the Faculty of Food and Agriculture.
- SAU worked on the UWI/Pan American Development Foundation (PADF)/OAS Open Hand Initiative which involved the Break The Silence (BTS) campaign, the development of a migrant-centred, bilingual version of the BTS Teachers Toolkit and related communication materials, the roll out of the BTS Manual in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and eight train the trainers and four supervised training workshops, among other activities.
- SAU IGDS IGNITE/UWI Economics Department /Queen’s Royal College She’s Royal hosted a series of monthly lunchtime seminars.
Increase and improve academic/industry research partnerships
The Units submitted several research grant proposals and worked assiduously on advancing and concluding existing funded projects while commencing new ones. The following projects were undertaken during the academic year:
MU
- Improving Household Nutrition Security and Public Health in CARICOM (Food & Nutrition) project, funded by International Research Development Centre (IDRC).
- UNDP Spotlight Initiative project with Women’s Media Watch (WMW).
- Essex Valley: Gender-Responsive Economic Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups in Agriculture and Organisational Strengthening project with the Mona School of Business Management (MSBM).
NBU
- PATH to Character: Promoting Agency, Trust and Hope for Incarcerated Barbadian Adolescents through Community Engagement project in collaboration with Oxford and Tulane University continued. The programme uses the science of character building to promote a set of developmental actions for youth residents at Barbados’ Government Industrial School (GIS).
- EU-funded LIVITY project in partnership with the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) and the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE). The project targets Barbados, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia to address marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion of persons with disabilities, LGBTI Caribbean citizens, women, girls, youth, and the elderly in national and regional decision-making processes through enhancing CSO capacity and participation.
RCO
- UNDP Spotlight Initiative Pillar 1.1.1 “Legislative Reform to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls” was completed with outputs including a media campaign, the development of a training manual and training of approximately 50 persons from various civil society organisations (CSOs).
- UNESCO Caribbean Sheroes Initiative launch event, a two-part project, which involved the launch and the production of a Knowledge Tool Kit.
SAU
- “A Sexual Culture of Justice: Strengthening LGBTQI & GBV Partnerships, Capacity & Efficacy to Promote & Protect Rights in T&T” was completed in March 2021. Closing activities included the creation of knowledge products, GBV training for men and teachers and guidance counsellors, and a national survey of Bullying and GBV of 40 secondary schools, among others.
- Technical support was provided for the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Programme (FARCP), which was funded by the Commonwealth Foundation.
- The Assessment and Alignment of the Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) Curricula and Teacher Training in Trinidad and Tobago to prevent family violence was completed.
- The design and implementation of an outreach intervention for Male Leaders and Faith-Based Leaders/Influencers.
- Regional Spotlight Programme intervention, a collaborative project funded by UNFPA Regional Office, UNICEF Regional Office, and executed by the SAU, CariMAN and Caribbean Alliance of National Psychological Associations, commenced. The project is aimed at creating an intersectional Caribbean model of behavioural and cultural change that addresses the identified gaps in prevention programming in the region.
- The AMCHAM/IGDS Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the Workplace Project, the first of its kind, commenced. This project seeks to obtain baseline qualitative and quantitative data to understand employers’ and employees’ experiences of IPV in the context of work, workplaces, work-family balance, co-worker relations, productivity, and services, and to get intervention recommendations from employers and employees.
AGILITY
During the academic year, the Institute continued to fundraise, mobilise resources and build partnerships at the local, national and international levels. Funds were raised as follows:
MU
- In partnership with other University departments generated JM$2,065,608/US$13,627 from consultancies and Summer School 202.
NBU
- PATH project, with the Oxford and Tulane University, BDS$466,670.
- EU-funded LIVITY project in partnership with the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) and the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), BDS$993,049.
RCO
- MSc self-financing programme, JM$1,868,448.
- UNDP Spotlight Initiative Pillar 1.1.1 “Legislative Reform to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls, US$45,000.
- UNESCO Sheroes Caribbean Initiative launch, US$6,500.
- The UNESCO Summer School project valued at US$14,000 was awarded in July 2021.
- Sponsorship from various organisations, JM$681,000 in sponsorship.
SAU
- Consultancy to Develop a Gender Mainstreaming Roadmap in the Commonwealth of Dominica, US$35,000.
- BTS Adapted Toolkit Rollout, US$16,842.
- Understanding the Manifestations, Drivers and Impacts of Child Marriage and Early Unions in the Caribbean, US$143,462.
- PADF BTS – Conversio
n of Toolkit into a Spanish language resource, US$31,920.
- IGDS Short Course, TT$17,000.
- Design and implementation of outreach intervention for Male Leaders and Faith-Based Leaders/Influencers, US$35,000.
- Regional Spotlight Programme intervention, US$50,000.
- IDB Project – Male Adolescents as Agents of Change US$15,000.
- Assessment and Alignment of the HFLE Curricula and Teacher Training, US$94,053.
- EU-funded A Sexual Culture of Justice (three-year project), €166,000.
CONCLUSION
The Institute, through the collaboration and tenacity of its staff, made significant gains in fulfilling its mandate, as well as advancing the objectives of The UWI’s Strategic Plan.
Dr. Mariama Williams, keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the UNCTAD XV Gender & Development Forum Opening Ceremony in discussion with Acting Head of the Nita Barrow Unit, Dr. Tonya Haynes following her address
