Kingston, 16 January 2020 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has received the all clear from the Jamaican Olympian Asafa Powell to move forward with plans to erect a monument in his honour at Independence Park at the National Stadium.

The sprinter and his wife, Alyshia, signed off on the maquette during a recent call on Minister Grange.

The Powells remarked that the sculptor got the details “just right.”

Minister Grange said the “sign-off by Asafa is an extremely important part of the process” which has included months of discussions and review of models between the sculptor, Basil Watson, and the athlete.

Having received the all clear, Minister Grange says she will now move ahead with the unveiling of the statue at the National Stadium on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 4:00pm.

The bronze statue — to the scale of one and quarter life size — is the last of four monuments in tribute to outstanding Jamaican sports stars that have been commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport under the Jamaica 55 Legacy Programme.

The statues of Usain Bolt, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce and Veronica Campbell Brown have been completed and installed.

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Kingston, 13 January 2020 - The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, is calling on Jamaicans to intervene to end gender based violence.

Minister Grange made the plea as she condemned acts of domestic violence during which Suzanne Easy of Portmore, St Catherine, and Nevia Sinclair of Nain, St. Elizabeth, were reportedly killed by their partners.

“We are all outraged by these acts which continue to bedevil our society; but we can stop them by getting involved to end the gender violence that we know is taking place next door. It’s time for us to stop labelling gender-based violence as man and woman affair. It is a horrific crime that we all have a role in bringing to an end. By our intervention, we will save lives. “

Minister Grange expressed condolences to the family and friends of Miss Easy and Miss Sinclair.

A suspect in the Sinclair killing is in police custody.

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Kingston, 10 January 2020 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has described the new Reggae Month App as a “game changer as the government intensifies efforts to promote Jamaica’s music to the peoples of the world.”

The App, commissioned by the Reggae Month Secretariat, is now available for download on Android and iOs devices. It provides a comprehensive list of activities being held in celebration of Reggae Month 2020 in Jamaica and its Diaspora, among other features.

Minister Grange said:
“The Reggae Month Jamaica App provides a great platform for everyone to get and share information about Reggae Month 2020, which is going to be the best staging yet. The App is very interactive and allows promoters to add their events to the list of Reggae Month activities alongside those events that are being organised by the Government of Jamaica or endorsed by the Reggae Month Secretariat.

As such, I invite all companies, artists and producers to share with us your Reggae Month plans so that they can be included, or to upload the info using the App.

I also invite every hotelier, including small properties, to position Reggae Month activities as a must-see for all our visitors during February 2020.”

To download the App, search the words ‘Reggae Month Jamaica’ in the Google Play or App Store.

Reggae Month celebrations are being led jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with several stakeholders.

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Morant Bay, St Thomas 22 December 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has announced that a new nursery, to be constructed at the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation location in Morant Bay, will be named in honour of Miss World, Toni-Ann Singh.

Minister Grange made the announcement during a tour of St Thomas by the new Miss World on Sunday (today).

Minister Grange said:
“It is my pleasure to announce this afternoon that this facility will have a new nursery. We will build out a new nursery and it will be the Toni-Ann Singh nursery. We will make a more detailed announcement, but I just want to say to you that it will be done. And it will be done soonest!”

The tour of her home parish is one of the activities to celebrate Toni-Ann being crowned Miss World 2019.

Toni-Ann Singh had chosen the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation location in St Thomas for her ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ project upon entering the Miss World competition and has been working with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport to improve the facilities. She is aiming to raise J$12million to develop the facilities and help adolescent mothers to complete their education.

The Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation helps adolescent mothers to continue their education while providing them with the tools to become good parents.

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Kingston, 14 December 2019 – The Minister of the Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport has congratulated the new Miss World, Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh.

Toni-Ann won the title in London today.

Minister Grange said Toni-Ann is a most deserving winner.

Minister Grange:
“I am so happy for Toni-Ann. She is an outstanding young woman with a wonderful personality, a beautiful soul, and extraordinary talent. She represented Jamaica so well during this competition and now we all have an amazing new Miss World. Toni-Ann is clearly the best choice.

Toni-Ann has made the entire country so proud. We are all walking on air, especially the girls at the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation location in St Thomas — Toni-Ann is so passionate about her parish and women’s issues — and she has been working with us at the Ministry to make a difference in the lives of the young girls who attend the Centre.

We look forward to her year as Miss World and continue to surround her with our love.”

Minister Grange and the team at the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport have been working with Toni-Ann Singh and the Miss Jamaica World team in the preparations for Miss World 2019.

Toni-Ann becomes the fourth Jamaican to win the Miss World title.

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Kingston, 9 December 2019 – The Minister of the Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, and the Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Edmund Bartlett, have launched Reggae Month 2020 to be celebrated under the theme ‘Come ketch de riddim.’

Since 2008, the month of February has been recognised annually in Jamaica as Reggae Month.

“We deliberately decided to launch before Christmas,” said Minister Grange who declared that Reggae Month 2020 would be “the best ever.”

“We are determined to produce a world-class and exciting package for Reggae Month 2020,” said Minister Grange whose Ministry and its agencies are organising Reggae Month celebrations jointly with the Ministry of Tourism and its agencies.

Minister Bartlett said “we want to invest more in Reggae Month and so the Ministry of Tourism along with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport will put serious funding into Reggae Month from next year onwards.”

Reggae Month usually features a series of live entertainment activities across the island for the entire month of February. However for 2020, celebratory activities will be held in the Diaspora, as well.

“We are partnering with Miramar in Florida,” said Minister Grange, adding that “we have worked out a series of activities that we will do in Florida and we will have exchanges during the month of February between Miramar and Kingston.”

The Vice Mayor of Miramar, Alexandra Davis, said the city was looking forward to including Reggae Month celebrations into the Black History Month commemoration.

The Vice Mayor said Miramar was well placed to lead Reggae Month celebrations in the Jamaican Diaspora as several Reggae icons reside in the city “where all five of the elected officials that run the city are of Jamaican descent or were born in Jamaica, so Reggae is very close to our hearts.”

The Reggae Month Secretariat has also forged a strategic partnership with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association under which hotels will offer special rates on accommodation for Regge Month.

Both Ministers Grange and Bartlett have invited Jamaicans in the Diaspora and the peoples of the world to come to Jamaica during Reggae Month 2020 and enjoy our infectious rhythm.

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Kingston, 2 December 2019 – UNESCO has accepted Jamaica’s proposal for the declaration of a Global Media and Information Literacy Week.

The proposal, presented by the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange has been accepted by UNESCO’s Executive Board and by its Commission on Communication and Information.

Minister Grange said a global declaration and celebration of Media and Information Literacy Week would bring attention to and encourage action to ensure that citizens have the skills to critically analyse and use media and information.

Making the case to UNESCO’s General Conference in Paris recently, Minister Grange said:
“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 Small Island Developing States, 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.

The 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.”

The resolution now needs the approval of the United Nations General Assembly which will meet again in 2020.

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Kingston, 29 November 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, is assuring women suffering domestic abuse that her Ministry will relocate them and help them to rebuild their lives.

In her statement to the House of Representatives to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Minister Grange said the government had rescued several women from abusive relationships and “the violence and despair that they knew has been replaced with peace and hope.”

Minister Grange said the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport has been able to help several women to escape violent relationships, even while it “still building out [its] response mechanism to victims of gender-based violence.”

As part of its wholistic response, the Ministry is in the process of establishing three state-run shelters for victims of gender-based violence.

The Ministry has completed purchase of one property to serve as a national shelter. That facility is being made “fit and proper for women and their children.” The process to acquire two others is in train. However, Minister Grange has expressed frustration over the speed at establishing the shelters.

“I have to admit that the process is moving a lot slower than I want it to; and much too slow for the victims who need the shelters like yesterday. It is urgent for them, and I continue to push to get them established because we know that many women stay in abusive relationships because they have nowhere to go.”

Research has found that many women stay in violent relationships — about 1 in 12 — because they do not have a place to go.

Despite the delay in establishing the shelters, Minister Grange says the Ministry has been and will be able to assist any woman to leave an abusive situation.

She encouraged any woman who is being abused to call for help, as several others have done within the last year.

Minister Grange said:
“As the Minister, I get the calls from women across the country who are being abused and want a way out.

Only recently, I got a call from a woman in rural Jamaica. It was one of the most heartbreaking stories of domestic abuse you could ever imagine. She had been willing to tough it out for the sake of her children while hoping that he would change. But as the years passed, the abuse continued — each time it was more severe.

When she called me, she told me it was so severe that she thought she was going to die.

She reached out and we were able to send help to her in the dead of night. We have relocated her and her children to a place where they are safe and are thriving.

That woman and her children represent one of several whom we have dealt with in the last year. We have moved several women and children out of violent situations and are helping them to rebuild their lives.”

In keeping with the national theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — Stand Up! Talk Up! Gender-based Violence is not a Private Matter — Minister Grange urged all Jamaicans to join the movement to end violence against our women.

Minister Grange said:
“One in four women is enduring horrific abuse at this very moment. That means that a woman, somewhere — someone you know — needs you. She needs you to be her voice. So if you know or suspect something, please stand up and talk up.”

The Ministry is encouraging any woman who is in an abusive relationship to call 876-260-1577 for help.

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Paris, 20 November 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has congratulated the nominees for the Reggae Grammy.

The nominees for Best Reggae Album were announced today (Wednesday, 20 November 2019) and includes:

RAPTURE (Koffee);
AS I AM (Julian Marley);
THE FINAL BATTLE: SLY & ROBBIE VS. ROOTS RADICS (Sly & Robbie & Roots Radics);
MASS MANIPULATION (Steel Pulse);
MORE WORK TO BE DONE (Third World)

Minister Grange said the nominees represented “some of the biggest names in Reggae music” and thanked them for "bringing Jamaica’s music to all the peoples of the world.”

The Reggae Grammy will be awarded in January, 2020.

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Paris, 18 November 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has sent warm congratulations to the national senior team who have qualified for the Lacrosse Women’s World Cup.

The women earned their place by finishing third in the qualifiers on the weekend.

Minister Grange said she was “excited by the very happy news” of the team’s qualification.

Minister Grange said:
“This is historic — it’s the first time that a team from Jamaica, and indeed the Caribbean, has qualified for the Lacrosse Women’s World Cup. They deserve our congratulations and our full support as they continue to beat the odds.

This latest achievement adds to a good run for history-making Jamaican teams over the past few years. It shows the success of sport development initiatives and we must congratulate our athletes, their support teams including the coaches and administrators.”

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