Statement by the Minister of Culture, Gender,
Entertainment and Sport
the Honourable Olivia Grange, CD, MP
Jamaica’s Policy Statement to the 40th Session of the
UNESCO General Conference
Paris, France
15 November 2019

Salutations

President of the General Conference
Chairman of the Executive Board
Director General

Last year, on November 29, the Reggae Music of Jamaica was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and we all celebrated by singing Bob Marley’s “One Love”.

Previously, Kingston, our capital city, was declared a Creative City Of Music by UNESCO, and our Blue and John Crow Mountains were designated a world heritage site.

Our country understands the value of UNESCO in recognising and protecting cultural heritage. These achievements are also in keeping with Jamaica’s recognition of its creative economy. For this reason, Jamaica is taking concrete steps to establish a National Culture and Creative Industries Council “Jamaica Creative” to realise the objectives of the 2005 Convention on the protection and promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

In the field of Education, we are moving solidly to support the Global Convention on the Mobility of Higher Education and Qualification. Jamaica is committed to the promotion of equity, and has pursued the realisation of SDG 4, through the Prior Learning and Assessment Recognition, and other forward looking initiatives. We have prioritised TVET and STEM integration and are making important strides in reducing gender gaps in educational institutions and transforming the early childhood sector.

As we look to the future, the views and development of our young people are important. Jamaica is pleased to have two vibrant representatives in attendance at the UNESCO Youth Forum.
In relation to Science, we have embraced the urgency which must be attached to the pursuit of Open Science, of women and girls in Science, and in managing the digital transformation. In February 2020, Jamaica and the UNESCO Caribbean Cluster Office will be hosting a Conference on Artificial Intelligence for the Caribbean, and will also explore its use to promote integrity in Sport which we call ‘physical culture’. We are convinced of the significant contribution which UNESCO can make to setting global standards in this area.

We also attach great significance to media and information literacy, as responsible media and technology play a vital role in promoting democratic values and fostering inclusive societies. Digital literacy is critical in preparing our people for the far-reaching disruptions, displacement and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution. This is particularly relevant to SIDS, given our low levels of GDP and labour intensive economies, which are most susceptible to the negative consequences of automation in the short to medium term.

UNESCO’s approval of the declaration of October 24 to 31, as Global Media and Information Literacy Week, would give these important issues the global attention which they need and deserve. We look forward to the support of Member States.

Mr. President, today, Jamaica re-affirms its commitment to pursue the Organisation’s goals and aspirations at the country level.

Today, we are further challenging UNESCO to intensify the mutually reinforcing relationship with its membership, given the unique role assigned to it as a force for good - in national and global development. UNESCO is an organisation which is best placed to demonstrate multilateralism at work.

Jamaica joins other Small Island Developing States in continuing to press for UNESCO to advance a global priority plan towards SIDS imperatives, of which climate change is a critical component.

My delegation acknowledges the many successes of the UNESCO family, including the Regional Offices and National Commissions. We commend the Director General for her vision and for the work underway in the implementation of the strategic transformation to strengthen UNESCO’s capacity and effectiveness. While this is a work in progress, we declare that its success will only be assured, when all Member States are able to see themselves in the outcomes and impact.

One Love, One Heart, One Destiny!

Kingston, 12 November 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has been elected a Vice-President of the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference which is underway in Paris, France.

The General Conference, which happens every two years, brings together the 193 members of UNESCO to decide on the policies and work of the organisation.

Minister Grange was elected Vice-President in her absence. She will leave Jamaica on Wednesday (tomorrow) to participate in the General Conference as well as the meeting of the powerful UNESCO Executive Board.

The 58-member Executive Board is responsible for the overall management of UNESCO. Jamaica is serving the Board on a 4-year term, which will end in 2021.

Minister Grange said she was “delighted by the news” of her election as Vice President for the General Conference, adding that it is another opportunity “to serve and to ensure that the voices of countries from the Caribbean and Latin America as well as Small Island Developing States are heard and that we all benefit from UNESCO’s work.”

Minister Grange’s election follows her just-concluded successful two-year term as Chair of the UNESCO Committee on Conventions and Recommendations; and her recent re-election as Vice Chair of the Culture Committee of the Organisation of American States.

While in Paris, Minister Grange will also serve as a panellist at the High-Level Meeting of Ministers of Culture.

Minister Grange will return to the island on 21 November 2019.

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Kingston 4 June 2019 – The Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, the Honourable Karl Samuda says schools will recognise the passing of the late former Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga on Wednesday (June 5).

Minister Samuda who has responsibility for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information says “students will mark Mr Seaga’s passing through either a cultural or religious expression during the final hour of the school day on Wednesday.”

Wednesday marks nine days since the passing of Mr Seaga.

The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has welcomed the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and has called on all Jamaicans to join the celebration of Mr Seaga’s life through their own observances.

Minister Grange says “each Jamaican can celebrate Mr Seaga’s life and contribution through musical or other cultural expressions, candle light services, prayer vigils, church services, sports or any community activity that provides safe spaces for residents to come together and reflect.”

Mr Seaga, who was Jamaica’s fifth Prime Minister, died on May 28 on his 89th birthday.

Kingston 21 May 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, is this year’s recipient of the coveted DUSUSU Award in the Gender Minister category.

The awards are presented annually to a First Lady and a Gender Minister who have shown exemplary work in Gender Development issues.

The award was presented to Minister Grange at her offices in New Kingston by the founder of the DUSUSU Awards, the world renowned girls education advocate Zuriel Oduwole.

Zuriel said Minister Grange was selected because she is “doing a lot in the areas of and in issues surrounding girls education, gender development and teenage pregnancy.”

Zuriel started the awards in 2014 when she was 11 years old to recognise the work of First Ladies and Gender Ministers in Africa.

Minister Grange has created history by becoming the first person outside of the African continent to receive the DUSUSU Award.

The Minister said she was honoured to receive the award from young Zuriel. Minister Grange pledged to continue working towards the empowerment, protection and education of girls.

Previous recipients of DUSUSU Awards have included Ministers of Gender Affairs in Mauritius, Ghana and Rwanda.

KINGSTON, 7 November 2018 (JIS) - The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport is collaborating with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) to develop a ‘No Excuse for Abuse’ public education campaign.

The campaign is part of a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), between the Government and the UN Women Multi-Country Office of the Caribbean, entered into in September, for implementation of the National Strategic Plan to Eliminate Gender-based Violence.

“Included in this MOU is the funding of the ‘No Excuse for Abuse’ campaign.  The campaign will take the anti-violence message to communities across the country,” said Portfolio Minister, Hon Olivia Grange, in a Statement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (November 6).

Minister Grange said that the campaign seeks to empower women and men, confront old notions about a woman’s place, and encourage behaviour change among women and men.

“We are grateful to the many partners − local and international − who continue to give support to our various initiatives to end gender violence,” she noted

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Paris, 11 October 2018 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has accepted the prestigious UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education which has been awarded to the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation.

The prize is given annually to individuals, institutions non-governmental organisations and other entities engaged in activities in girls’ and women’s education and is sponsored by the People’s Republic of China.

The Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation was recognised for helping adolescent mothers to continue their education and awarded US$50,000 to help further its work.  This year’s other awardee, the Misr El-Kheir Foundation, supports girls' education in some of the poorest villages of Egypt.

Accepting the prize at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France today — on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child — Minister Grange said the award was in recognition of “the value of the Foundation’s work in re-writing the script of the lives of adolescent mothers.”

The Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation — an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport — was established 40 years ago to devise programmes and activities to address the needs of adolescent mothers, including equipping them to take care of their children and helping them to complete their education at its centres across the country and through re-integration into the formal school system, thereby increasing their job prospects.

Minister Grange noted that prior to the establishment of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation, pregnancy was like a death sentence for the adolescent girl: her health was endangered; her education would stop; her hopes and dreams would vanish; and she faced a life of poverty and dependence.

During the last 40 years, the Women’s Centre has served 46-thousand adolescent mothers — most of whom never had a second child during their adolescent years.

This year’s International Day of the Girl Child was observed under the theme “With Her: A Skilled GirlForce” which called attention to the need to develop the skills of girls to enter the workforce on equal terms.

Minister Grange called on everyone to “commit to doing all in our power to create a world that is fit for a girl. A world that values her.  A world that protects her.  A world that shows her possibilities and helps her to be all that she can and wants to be.”

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