BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon, Tuesday said the launch of the “SheTrades Caribbean Hub” should be regarded as not just about the empowerment of Caribbean women, but potentially a gigantic step towards gender equity.
“We aim to promote inclusive development and gender parity while creating more opportunities with higher wages and better working conditions for women,” Leon told the ceremony.
The CDB has partnered with the International Trade Centre (ITC) to launch the SheTrades Caribbean Hub, which they said will connect women entrepreneurs to global markets and build a more robust regional trade network.
Leon said that the rationale behind the initiative is based on the theory that the Caribbean existence has been marked by multiple periods of crisis and a repeated sense of the urgency of now.
“This is not unsurprising, as our past and even our present have been constantly underwritten by shocks and traumas visited on us by elements or forces over which we have had no control. For this reason, we must envision and craft a resilient future in which Caribbean people do not merely survive but thrive,” he said.
The St. Lucian-born economist said that fundamental to achieving this vision is articulating and operationalizing an approach where we “all share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for our human rights, and a fair allocation of community resources.
“That, colleagues, is essentially a social justice agenda. We cannot achieve social justice without gender equity. We define this as having equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for women, men, girls, and boys to shape their lives and contribute to society. “Importantly, it also refers to the transformational commitment needed to make equity, in all its dimensions, a reality within the human rights agenda,” he said.
He said the CDB, building on its equally firm commitment to leverage partnerships for resilient prosperity, the new initiative is intended to ensure economic empowerment for all.
“While we know that trade and investment can be an important driver for economic empowerment of women, we also know that systemic challenges such as poor data quality, inadequate business support services, unfavorable business environments, and limited access to affordable finance, compounded by socio-cultural biases against women entrepreneurs, stand in the way.’
He said that the SheTrades Caribbean Hub is not a cure-all for these issues, but the Hub can provide a more level playing field for its members where they can share experiences and access information and tools for sustaining growth.
Leon said as a result, this would allow each business to stand on a firm foundation and be less vulnerable to economic and societal shocks.
“ Each person’s success will not be the same, but if given the same opportunity, they can create livelihoods and contribute to our collective prosperity as a people,” he said, noting that the Hub also allows CDB to activate a value-chain approach to tackling the impediments to women’s economic empowerment.”
He said in this regard, it will complement and extend the footprint of CDB’s initiatives, such as the Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services Network, the Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund, and the CDB’s investment in the Portland Equity Fund III. “These initiatives and programs allow us to support private sector development, specifically promoting broad-based economic growth for women-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and gender-responsive social development.
“We aim to promote inclusive development and gender parity while creating more opportunities with higher wages and better working conditions for women. Joining forces with an international development partner allows us to leverage additional resources to improve market access for women-owned businesses.”
Leon said that CDB’s future interventions are anchored in a programmatic approach, targeting by 2025 over 2,000 women-owned/led MSMEs supported by the regional SheTrades Hub. He said the region’s premier financial institution engaged a project team that has been working since February this year on the operationalization of the Hub, reiterating that CDB is committed to and continues to create and support the development of innovative, dynamic, and accessible products and programs to enhance MSME competitiveness through the lens of social and gender equity.
“Together, let us forge a path toward social justice, characterized by the empowerment of women entrepreneurs and a future where opportunities abound for all,” he added.
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