Senior local officials were among Caribbean delegates who exchanged views with US counterparts at a Miami forum on bolstering the rule of law and ending gender-based violence.
A release from the US embassy yesterday said that government, law enforcement, and judicial officials from 12 Caribbean countries met in Miami to exchange ideas and share strategies for strengthening the rule of law and stopping gender-based violence.
The forum was hosted by the US Department of State at Florida International Univer-sity from December 11 to 13.
Dubbed the Caribbean Dialogue on Rule of Law and Gender-Based Violence, the forum brought together judges, prosecutors, and high court justices, police officers, and civil society members from throughout the English-speaking Caribbean.
The release said that the delegation from Guyana, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy, included Attorney General Anil Nandlall; Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Ali-Hack; Manag-ing Attorney of the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic Simone Morris-Ramlall; Director of Help and Shelter Margaret Kertzious; and Represen-tative from the Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness organization Tiffiney Jackson.
The Caribbean officials toured the Miami City-Dade County domestic violence courts for an insight into the US judicial and legal approach to prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence and gender-based crime.
The release said that they also heard from experts such as Rosina Wiltshire, the first advocate for gender justice for CARICOM. The Caribbean officials will have an opportunity to share their ideas and experiences with their regional counterparts. The release added that they will also spend time developing or expanding country-specific national action plans to determine the next steps that should be taken.
A big concern for all the countries participating was how to “remove barriers to dealing with impunity for perpetrators of gender-based violence,” said Anita Botti, Chief of Staff and Deputy Director of the Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues.
“That’s a big issue, and it can only be dealt with if all the players are
working together”, she was quoted in the release as saying.
Among other US officials who attended were Larry Palmer, US Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean; Pamela Bridgewater, US Ambassador to Jamaica; Liliana Ayalde, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemis-phere Affairs; and Brian Nichols, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sent a special message to participants via video, the release said.
One of the desired outcomes of the dialogue, the release said, was to explore ways that the United States can improve or expand its existing programmes in the region.
The release noted that the US recently released the first Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally, accompanied by a presidential executive order directing implementation of the strategy.
According to the release, US missions throughout the region, including the US Embassy in Guyana carry out public diplomacy programming for community outreach, sponsor professional exchanges, offer small grants for the development of programmes to support women, and provide training to those involved in preventing and responding to gender-based violence.
