Gender Awareness Workshop Aims at Public Servants  

~~Adz:Right~~ Roadtown, Tortola- Government employees will receive another opportunity to increase their understanding of gender issues in the workplace during a one-day workshop tomorrow.

Head of the Office of Gender Affairs Ms. Patricia Hackett said the office will be hosting a training entitled “Gender Awareness among Civil Servants: A Participatory Workshop,” between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. this Thursday, 18 September, at the Public Service Training Centre at the Training Division.

She said topics that will be covered during the workshop include “what is gender and how it is socially constructed; societal views about men and women; gender and HIV/AIDS and its impact on national productivity; international U.N. conventions on gender equality and equity; sex and gender stereotyping; and gender roles and relations.”

According to Ms. Hackett the overall objective of this Thursday’s workshop is to increase knowledge and understanding of gender and its related issues within the workplace. Ms. Hackett will be joined by the Territory’s HIV/AIDS Programme Coordinator Dr. Ronald McAnaney to facilitate the training. Dr. McAnaney will make a presentation on the topic “gender and HIV/AIDS and its impact on national productivity.”

The Office of Gender Affairs, formerly the Women’s Desk, is a unit within the Ministry of Health and Social Development. It is charged with, among other things, developing and implementing policies and programmes that promote gender equity and equality in the Territory. The Office previously functioned under the Premier’s Office.