Issues related to the role of women in areas such as architecture, engineering and building will come to the fore next week, when the Bureau of Gender Affairs hosts a half-day symposium entitled: Gender in Urban Planning: Mainstreaming Gender in Housing, Employment and Education.
It will be held next Wednesday, July 9, in the Bridgetown and St. Michael conference rooms, located on the 5th Floor, Baobab Tower, Warrens, St. Michael.
Presentations on Gender and Urban Planning will be given by Engineer from Consulting Engineer Partnership Ltd, Malika Harte; Architect, of Viki Telford Architects Inc., Vikki Telford; and representative of the Town and Country Development Planning Office, Marjorie Stuart-Griffith.
There will also be a session on Gender and the Sexual Division of Labour, which will be facilitated by Programme Officer at the Bureau, Nalita Gajadhar.
During that time, Chief Research and Planning Officer in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Mark Franklin, will speak on Gender and Labour/Employment; and Manager, Technical Services, at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council, Wendy McClean, will talk on Mainstreaming Gender in Training.
Other speakers on the day will be Senior Housing Planner, Ministry of Housing and Lands, Kelly Hunte, who will give a talk on Gender and Housing; and Assistant Manager of Personal Banking, Scotiabank, Natasha Wood, will look at Gender and Finance.
Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development, Steven Blackett, will deliver the feature address during the opening of the symposium, while Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo, will also deliver remarks at the event.
The symposium aims to address the issue of gender mainstreaming, which is the concept of assessing the different implications that any planned policy action will have for women and men. It is also a strategy used as a means of achieving the goal of gender equality.
It also seeks to educate participants about gender mainstreaming in relation to profession; sensitise participants about the links between gender equality and how it relates to opportunities for men and women; create awareness of gender equality among the targeted professionals; and establish the relationship between these professions and gender equality.
kim.ramsay-moore@barbados.gov.bb