Nevis:

102.Data from Nevis to follow.

103.The Project also included a Women’s Empowerment Contest, eligible to registered non-governmental organizations with the Financial Services Commission and community-based non-profit organizations registered with government partnering agencies, intended to promote and highlight grassroots initiatives. The maximum amount of support is up to EC$80,000 (eighty thousand Eastern Caribbean Dollars) per project idea.

Small Business Bootcamps and Expo

104.Work towards sustainability in response to the hardships posed by the COVID‑19 pandemic and female entrepreneurship was further developed through small business boot camps held in 2020 and designed to empower men and women economically. The boot camps, held in Nevis, enhanced the business of existing entrepreneurs and equipped potential entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge to move their ventures from conceptualisation to actualisation. Training topics included marketing, customer service, financing, financial management, pricing, social security, taxation, legal structure of business, labelling and quality standards as required by the Bureau of Standards. In keeping with the theme for ‘Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’, The Gender Department in Nevis hosted its first Gender Expo in March 2022 as part of its activities marking Women’s Month to showcase goods and services. Entrepreneurs also acquired skills from training sessions in the areas of fish trap making, plumbing, basket weaving, hat and fascinator making, sewing, and fruit and vegetable carving which have enabled them to generate income.

Rural women

Reply to paragraph 20 of the list of issues and questions

105.Currently, there is no official policy or programme within the Department of Agriculture that targets women or women in rural areas in St. Kitts. Notwithstanding women in agriculture and in general have equal opportunity to access farmlands, although the agriculture sector is still dominated by males. To date, farmer registration indicates that there was a significant increase in farmer registration over the past 5 years to approximately 1,599 farmers, of which 216 (14%) were females and 1,383 (86%) were males.

106.The Fahies Women Cooperative Society that was established after the closure of the sugar industry and it is still active and continued to receive the support of the Ministry of Agriculture. Over the past four years this group benefited from several agro-processing workshops geared towards expanding and enhancing their livelihood. Such training focused on processing of breadfruit chips, breadfruit flour, guava cheese and wine.

107.The Department of Agriculture continued its initiative to build resilience to a crisis such as COVID-19 through its Farmer Assistance Program to which both male and female farmers, whether from rural or urban areas, have equal access. Thus far, 203 farmers (25 females and 178 males) benefited from this programme, where they received wire, fencing poles, ground cover, seeds, fertilizer, insecticide, water storage tanks and green houses.

108.At the department of Agriculture, more women have been promoted to managerial and sub-managerial positions. Currently, the Strategic Operation Committee constitutes more than 50% females.

109.The Ministry of Agriculture continues to support the development of women farmers. In 2022, several women farmers were engaged in fruitful discussions with the purpose of implementing a range of measures to further support local women’s participation in the agricultural sector. Examples of such include the relationship with a number of women within the Federation to form the St. Kitts chapter of the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers (CANROP). Special extension and advisory services will also form part of the ministry’s support to women and this support will enable women to understand the market and how it operates and it will enable them to know the needs of the market both in products, quality and volume.

110.Other projects include the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Water Energy Food (WEF) Nexus project which seeks to incorporate gender mainstreaming in its implementation. Twenty (20) farmers were selected to benefit directly from the WEF Nexus project that aims, in 2022, to install and equip the farms with solar powered drip irrigation, water harvesting and storage systems. The project stipulated that 20% of the farmers selected should be women. Of the 20 beneficiary farmers selected, 6 are women (30%). Training will comprise installation, operation, maintenance, and management of the systems that allow them to adapt to climate change challenges, with the potential to increase farm output, productivity, and household income. As part of the gender mainstreaming focus of the project, planned focus group sessions on gender mainstreaming in agriculture aim to bring together women farmers, women employed in technical and agricultural extension positions. The sessions provide opportunities to raise concerns, constraints, give perspective on disadvantages faced relating to access to resources, support services, shortfalls of existing their recommendations for solutions going forward.

Climate change and disaster risk reduction

Reply to paragraph 21 of the list of issues and questions

111.The Department of Gender Affairs (Nevis) has executed women-focused televised panel discussions under the theme: “SKN Women and a Sustainable Future,” shining a light on gender equality and its impact on disaster risk and climate change. Meetings with the Federal Ministry of Sustainable Development to partner in the implementation the project “Improving Environmental Management through Sustainable Land Management in St. Kitts and Nevis.” The Department played a vital role explaining the importance of gender mainstreaming in the project’s implementation. In a similar vein, the department has held meetings with the Federal Ministry of Sustainable Development on the execution of local and regional conferences on Women and Climate Action.

112.The St. Kitts and Nevis National Gender Equality Policy notes that the 2021 Biennial Update Report (BUR) for Saint Kitts & Nevis conducted assessments with varying publics on the current level of engagement and inclusion of gender issues and vulnerable groups in climate change planning engagement and processes. The Report also assessed ways to enhance their adaptive capacity. Among the findings of relevance to the Policy are:

•Climate change affects and impacts men and women and other vulnerable groups differently (different roles and responsibilities at the household and community levels);

•Women are more exposed and vulnerable to climate change because they are often poorer, receive less education, and are not involved in political and household decision-making processes that affect their lives;

•Shared vulnerabilities of the different groups affect their participation in productive processes and decision-making and hampered climate change awareness.

113.The Gender Policy promotes a gender-responsive approach to climate change, the environment and sustainable development, and men’s and women’s equal participation in decision-making on all aspects of the sector.

114.Despite the challenges faced, women’s active contribution in building resilient communities is well documented; mirrored by the 2022 International Women’s Day Awards Ceremony that honoured several women who had made significant contributions in the areas of science, the digital, blue and green economies; and the COVID-19 response and recovery.

Marriage and family relations

Reply to paragraph 22 of the list of issues and questions

115.The State has enacted the following suite of Legislation to address the issues raised in this question, they are: The Probation & Child Welfare Board Act, Cap.12.12 Child Justice Act, Cap.4.15 & Children Care and Adoption Act, Cap.12.01.

116.The Divorce Act, Cap.12.03 did not define property in the strict context of divorce proceedings, however, property is defined in the Interpretation Act, Cap. 1.02 as: “property” includes money, goods, things in action, land and every description of property, whether real or personal; also obligations, easements and every description of estate, interest and profit, present or future, vested or contingent, arising out of or incidental to property as herein defined.

117.The Divorce Act, did not make a special distinction between women with disabilities as opposed to women without disabilities, with respect to parental rights, however given the Constitutional protection afforded against non-discrimination on all grounds, a woman with a disability would not be treated less favourable on account of that disability.

Appendix

Representatives of the National Steering Committee: Technical Assistance for Women’s Employment, Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion in St Kitts and Nevis

•Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs (SK) - Chair

•Small Enterprise Development Unit – Ministry of Finance – Nevis – Deputy Chair

•Taiwanese Technical Mission

•Department of Gender Affairs (St. Kitts)

•Department of Labour (St. Kitts)

•Small Business Development Center – Ministry of Industry and Commerce (St. Kitts)

•Advanced Vocational Education and Training Center (AVEC)

•Ministry of Education (St. Kitts)

•National Women’s Council

•ECCB Credit Unit