Acting Minister of Social Services Myles LaRoda.
NASSAU, The Bahamas--The sudden death of Minister of Social Services Obie Wilchcombe has not hindered progress on a draft gender policy, according to Acting Minister of Social Services Myles LaRoda, who said he has not yet seen the draft but he expects to be briefed on it “pretty soon”.
“As a matter of fact, I meet with one of the departments in particular today [Friday, December 8] at 1:00pm,” he said.
One day before his death, Wilchcombe told The Nassau Guardian that government expected to have a draft gender policy in hand for review and further consultations in October, and noted that The Bahamas fully intends to meet its commitment under various international treaties to ensure equality of the sexes.
Wilchcombe died on September 25.
LaRoda told reporters on Friday, it is “still a work in progress”.
“Sometimes we as politicians are given far too much credit,” he said. “The work is actually done by the department in conjunction with other government agencies, and that is an ongoing process.”
Asked when consultation on the policy would continue, LaRoda said, “This is a fluid situation, it’s ongoing, there’s going to be further consultation. You know, when we brought the piece of legislation early on this year, there were those who were concerned that it did not go far enough.
“The former minister indicated that it was a start and we were prepared, as a government, to listen to those concerns and see if we could find common ground to address them.”
A recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report revealed a chronic bias against women globally over the last decade. It stated there was “no improvement in the level of prejudice shown against women over the past decade”.
In September, Wilchcombe said, “They would wish to push countries, whether it’s [the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women – Ed.] CEDAW, all the parties would wish to push countries further in causing gender equality between men and women.
“We will have a draft, hopefully, by the end of October. We’ll be able to take a look at the draft and see the work that’s been done by the group that’s been having meetings throughout, continuing meetings, talking with sitting parliamentarians, talking with [non-governmental organisations] NGOs to finalise the policy.”
LaRoda stressed government is committed to a policy that is acceptable to local and international groups.
“The Bahamas is a country of laws,” he said. “We believe in the rule of law.”
Gaynel Curry, a human rights advocate who advises governments and other entities on a broad range of human rights and social justice issues, is preparing the document.
Curry worked with the United Nations for more than 23 years and also served as the first director of the Department of Gender and Family Affairs in The Bahamas.
Speaking of the planned policy, Wilchcombe said, “The focus is equality, men and women, because over the many years, the traditions and difficulties in many other countries, the international bodies, [on] the question of human rights, have been arguing that there ought to be a defined position on gender equality.”
One of the areas where gender equality has not been achieved is in The Bahamas Constitution as it relates to citizenship matters.
While the Davis administration does not plan to address this through any referendum – as two previous referenda on the issue failed – it has committed to providing for gender equality in citizenship through ordinary legislation. ~ The Nassau Guardian ~
