Young Women Leaders Push for Gender Equality

A new wave of leadership is rising in Belize tonight. Women from across the country are stepping up, speaking out, and preparing to lead. They’ve gathered for a two‑day Caribbean Women in Leadership workshop, an initiative designed to give young women the tools, confidence, and support they need to enter decision‑making spaces, especially in politics, where their voices are still far too few. News Five’s Shane Williams has the story.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

They are the future voices of Belize, young women being groomed to lead, influence, and transform. The Caribbean Women in Leadership workshop brings together aspiring leaders for two days of intensive training, mentorship, and dialogue. The program is part of a wider regional push to strengthen women’s participation in leadership and governance.

 

Kathy Jones, Belize Chair, Caribbean Women In Leadership, 

“CWiL  is a regional organization, Caribbean Women in Leadership. We do have our chapter here in Belize. We have chapters all over the Caribbean and so the main goal of CWIL is to help with develop transformational leadership in young ladies, in women, focusing on helping those women who are interested in the political life. We do know that we are underrepresented in the political aspect of in many of our countries, although we know we also have political leaders like Honorable Mia Moley. In Belize we also have Honorable Tracy Panton, honorable Valerie Woods, honorable Garcia, but we still need to fill in those other post, other positions.”

 

While women across the Caribbean have made strides in leadership, the numbers still tell a story of underrepresentation particularly in politics. Organizers say that’s exactly what this initiative is designed to change.

 

Nana Hesse-Bayne, President, CWIL Board of Directors

“ This is actually an event which started early part of February. And what we’ve been doing is working with the young women to prepare them for leadership roles. This cohort is the first in Belize. However, since 2018, we’ve been doing this across the Caribbean region, and this is our seventh Y will. So they would have been engaged in programs and trainings on transformational leadership, gender equality, advocacy, feminist theory, and basically just to. Amplify and advocate their leadership skills. We have in a workshop today with different panelists and different speakers, women leaders, the challenges they face, and how they’ve been able to navigate it and really emulate transformational leadership.”

 

The workshop builds on months of preparation, exposing participants to topics like gender equality, advocacy, and transformational leadership. But beyond theory, the program is also about real-world application. Today the young leaders held a mock debate in the national assembly.

 

Kathy Jones

“They are gonna be in Parliament. They’re going to be tabling the motion of gender equality in Parliament, and so it is our hope that this comes to fruition. That is what we’re preparing for. This is a mock parliament, but with the hopes that it is tabled at the house at some point, and to ensure that this bill actually goes through. That is our long-term goal and ensuring that we prepare these young ladies and any other young lady who wants to join CWIL to develop the skills that they need to be leaders in parliament, leaders in education, leaders, wherever they are at in our country of Belize.”

 

Organizers hope that what begins as a simulation will one day translate into actual policy in Belize’s House of Representatives. Shane Williams for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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