Kingston, 19 May 2024 (JIS) - A Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation facility is to be built in St. Thomas.

The Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, who made the announcement, says the centre will be designed and constructed by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica, which will also adopt the facility that is expected to have a nursery and dormitory, among other features.

The FCJ is also spearheading development of the Morant Bay Urban Centre, work on which is advanced.

“The development that is happening in the parish is booming, and they are going well,” Mr. Holness said.

He was addressing the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation fundraising dinner at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston on Saturday.

Mr. Holness also announced that he and Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, will be facilitating a donation of $10 million towards the construction of a Women’s Centre dormitory in Kingston.

“What is needed now to expand the [Women’s Centre] services and to make [these] more impactful would be more dormitories in some areas, and we hope that we can partner with the private sector [on that] to complete the facility,” the Prime Minister added. 

The Women's Centre provides continuing education for girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy, and facilitates their reinstatement into the formal school system after giving birth.

Through its commitment to improved educational attainment and outcomes and adolescent reproductive health, the Women’s Centre strives to promote a holistic approach to service delivery for and the provision of information to young girls.

Prime Minister Holness, who praised patrons supporting Saturday’s fundraising dinner, said the Women’s Centre is an “extremely important” entity, adding that their support is not just a matter of charity, “it is a matter of social responsibility being executed in a meaningful way.”

He maintained that supporting the Women’s Centre’s work represents an investment in ensuring that Jamaica’s adolescents, particularly teenaged mothers, get to fulfil their life opportunities.

In this regard, Mr. Holness said the entity can be described as the Government’s “most meaningful and successful social intervention programme.”

More than 45,000 teen mothers have been assisted by the Women’s Centre since its establishment in 1978 to facilitate their continuing education; aid in delaying repeat pregnancies among adolescent mothers through sexual and reproductive health education, and enable their reintegration into the formal school system or placement in another institution of learning.

END