Women account for 51 per cent of the world’s population, yet their representation at leadership levels is far below that. Is this fair? Does it matter? The 51% Coalition says an unequivocal “Yes!” (as does much of the literature and statistics, which bear out that female leadership provides all kinds of benefits, including the improvement of a company’s bottom line.)

Yesterday marked the launch of a powerful media campaign under an initiative titled The 51% Coalition-Development through the Empowerment and Equity, which aims to improve female representation on private and public sector boards To be specific, the mandate endorses the use of quotas, which are defined as ‘temporary measures to advance women in leadership and decision-making in Jamaica.’

The 51% Coalition emerged from research conducted by the Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre, the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, the Jamaican Women’s Political Caucus, and the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica.

At yesterday’s launch of the media campaign, which will see a series of radio ads run over the next while, Dr. Marcia Forbes told the audience that “Women hold up 51 per cent of the world,” and stated that the PSAs are designed to create awareness and to serve as material that will be used to target corporate boards and Parliament. There is no doubt that  it has been an uphill struggle to launch women into leadership roles, not just in Jamaica, but globally. Indeed, Donna Duncan Scott, who sits on the board of financial services firm JMMB, admitted that even her own company is still working towards implementing a quota policy. “Women provide a different kind of leadership and we really need to own it. We have to take deliberate action,” she said. Nadeen Spence of the Young Women’s Leadership Initiative, echoed this statement. “We have a problem of not enough women aspiring to leadership,” she said, adding that current generations will pass on before improvements are made in terms of women in leadership roles.

Indeed, the statistics show a depressing reality. Check it out:

• Globally, women represent an average of roughly 30 per cent of leadership roles in the public sector or government. (Read a speech on this matter by UN Executive Director Michelle Bachelet on this subject here.)
• Women comprise no more than a fifth of all mayors in 73 out of 77 countries or areas. (Read a UN report on this subject here.)
• In 2009, only 13 per cent of Fortune 500 companies had a female CEO (see link above for reference).
• In the U.S., only 4.2 per cent of women are CEOs.
• The rate at which female leadership at Fortune 500 companies is almost stagnant: from 2009 to 2012, leadership moved from 13.5 to 14.3 per cent.
•  In Jamaica, six out of 10 of the members of Parliament (according to statistics provided by the 51% Coalition)
• Two out of 17 of members of Cabinet
• Six out of 21 members of Senate
• Three out of seven Judges in the Court of Appeal

Quotas have attracted their share of controversy over the years, with some arguing that it subverts the principle of equality. From the UN report: “While quotas compensate for actual barriers that prevent women from their fair share of the political seats, it has been argued that they contradict the principles of equal opportunity since women are given preference over men. ” The 51% Coalition acknowledged this difficulty, stating that this initiative is not intended to marginalize men, rather, it is all about “balance,” Dr. Forbes stated. This initiative could be especially controversial in a country in which the first female prime minister was elected in 2006. However, across the board, representation in Jamaica continues to languish at unacceptable levels.

The impact of this is widespread, from lack of attention and sensitivity to issues such as reproductive rights, violence against women and a simple lack of female perspective. In addition, female representation has been proven to improve a company’s bottom line, added Donna Duncan Scott. A World Bank 2012 report states that “gender equality as smart economics,” and asserts that “just as investing in women and girls can create a positive development cycle, the opposite is also true: countries that fail to empower half the population will suffer from lower productivity, slower economic growth and weaker economic development outcomes.”

The Coalition has targeted the milestone that will mark success as no more than 60 per cent and no less than 40 per cent represented at various levels.

To conclude, I will reference a statement from the UN report I linked to above. According to this research, women have fewer attendance problems. Yesterday’s launch appeared to confirm this: the two males scheduled to speak failed to present themselves.

Yesterday, YOU’s Executive Director Mrs. Scott and I met with Education Minister the Rev. Ronald Thwaites. The purpose of our encounter was to discuss possible partnerships with the Education Ministry. YOU has capacity not just to mentor youth and provide training programs, but to address teachers and the challenges they face in their jobs.

The Minister was refreshingly honest. Yes, it is possible for a politician to step away from the message track inculcated into them by the administration. Minister Thwaites not only illuminated the reality of the situation in the Ministry of Education (funding is all committed at this point), but he suggested alternative partnerships and means by which YOU can work with the Ministry. He also promised to appear at an event we are holding at the end of March. Then he posed for pictures.

It is so easy to allow cynicism to colour our view of politicians. They certainly give us enough reason to do so, however, the majority of them start out with good intentions and a desire to help. At least we hope so. Thank you Minister Thwaites.

Between passionate, opinionated conversations, sensational headlines and sanitized tourism campaigns, it can be downright confusing in Jamaica to get a handle on reality. Especially as a foreigner inhabiting the strange twilight world of voluntarism. A couple of conversations over the past few days, combined with these irresponsible headlines, and Volkswagon telling me “Erryting gonna be alright man,” I am confused. But everyday, I strive to try to understand this place in which I have lived for close to a year now.

On a daily basis, the media, citizens, politicians, and tourist boards prompt us to buy a certain package of Jamaica. What is the reality? Is it a stable nation with improving fiscal health and a strong social safety net on an upward trend? Is it on the brink of anarchy and bankruptcy? Is it a cultural capital of the world and a paradise of blissed-out Rastas, and gorgeous beaches? Or is it something in between? A heart-breakingly beautiful country whose people are so rich in creativity and resilience but poor in monetary wealth, relative safety and robust social services?

I’m tending towards the latter, but first, some facts:

• Jamaica’s debt is 140 per cent of its GDP.

• Jamaica is about to sign a deal with the IMF which will grant it a multi-billion dollar loan aimed at staving off a financial crisis. Here is a good synopsis, and here is the IMF’s latest word on the deal:                           The main objective of Jamaica’s economic reform program is to contain the country’s rising economic and external vulnerabilities and address economic imbalances, while putting Jamaica on a path of sustainable growth. The program also aims to promote macroeconomic and financial stability, including through achieving and sustaining higher primary fiscal surpluses that can help underpin debt sustainability, pave the way for private-sector led growth through the implementation of a comprehensive set of structural reforms, and promote social stability through enhanced social protection for the most vulnerable.

• The unemployment rate is roughly 14 per cent.
• The murder rate, while declining, is still the third highest in the world. Check below the most recent statistics from the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

So there’s that, on a decidedly negative note. But here now, courtesy of Martin Henry (I am quoting him directly), some more optimistic facts:

• “The UNDP human development index for Jamaica has steadily grown from 0.6 to 0.7 (out of a maximum score of 1) from 1980 to 2012, well ahead of the world average and paralleling, although trailing, the growth line for high human development.
• …life expectancy has progressively increased over the last 36 years, indeed, since Independence, from 70.5 years in 1980 to 73.1 years in 2012 – up there with the developed countries.Jamaica has had nothing short of a spectacular track record in reducing and eliminating infectious diseases. The killer diseases profile now is the non-communicable lifestyle diseases of affluence! Infant mortality and maternal mortality have gone down. The fertility rate has gone down – dramatically. The level of childhood immunisation matches the the developed world’s. Access to primary and secondary health care has greatly increased and is free.

• Access to potable water has increased dramatically over the last 36 years, although the Government has set up a major water crisis for the future by its failure to develop supplies to match growing demand. Demand for water is a significant index of development.

• Rural electrification has brought power to most Jamaican households over the last 36 years. In 1977, the wait time – without inside links or priority ranking – for a landline phone from a monopoly provider could stretch from years to forever. The phone density today is greater than the adult population, which means many people have two or more phones! And ‘poverty’ and taxes have not stopped Jamaica from being a world leader in cellphone-per-capita call minutes!”

The media paints another portrait, that of an anarchic country on the brink of financial ruin and at the mercy of post-colonial era global superpowers like the IMF. Forty-year-old men acquire 16-year-old girls to serve at their pleasure. Mothers kill their infants. Gunmen shoot and kill with impunity on a daily basis. Pregnant girls are kicked out of school. Children live in poverty and squalor. Men rape eight-year-old girls.”Vicious gays” target and harass innocent citizens. “Killer Dad; Farmer slaughters daughters, hangs himself,” from today’s Jamaica Observer is an example.

Unfortunately, all these events have occurred in the past year. And we know about them because newspapers, television and radio are relentless in screaming at us. In an attempt to shore up suffering bottom lines, editors and publishers sensationalize these stories by treating those involved as characters in a horrific movie rather than real, multi-faceted human beings enduring a tragedy.

Then there are the opinions. Yesterday alone, I had two separate conversations in which people lamented Jamaica’s trajectory. “The country is going to hell,” one man said. Another prominent business-owner revealed that their company is facing tough times and is searching for places to slash its budget.

And if we pay attention to what tourists experience, and what multi-national advertising companies want us to believe, Jamaica is an idyllic playground of tantalizing food and music, hospitable beaches and kind, laid-back people.

So where do we find ourselves amidst all this? What is the real Jamaica? It is probably a complex combination of all the portraits supplied so far. There is no doubt of the work to be done to ease the suffering of Jamaica’s people, to fortify the health of its financial situation, to reduce crime and violence and to achieve social justice and equality.

One thing I know for sure, however, is that Jamaicans do not lack energy and passion and creativity. The country itself is rich in beauty and natural resources and its culture is envied globally. With these resources in hand, it is clear to see that a positive trajectory is absolutely possible.

Patties are a beloved Jamaican staple. They consist of a spicy filling (beef, pork, chicken, now even vegetables) covered in a flaky crust. Delicious and an immutable part of Jamaica’s culture. So imagine the furore that erupted when some Canadian bureaucrats thought it was a good idea to abolish the use of the name ‘patty’ by vendors selling the diet staple.

Toronto’s sizeable Caribbean population took major issue with the probably well-meaning bureaucrats (check out a good synopsis here). Here is the well-meaning bureaucrat, from a newspaper interview:

…CACA food specialist Peter Haidle about the regulations governing patties. He seemed especially peeved by the low protein content in the crust of the offending patties. His defence of the crackdown was stereotypically bureaucratic: “When you have a standard, you have to comply with it or the whole system breaks down.” To prevent the utter destruction of the Canadian food chain, Haidle suggested snappy new names like “Caribbean-style beef pies.” He wasn’t without mercy—his department would allow vendors to use up their remaining stock of bags and other packaging bearing the offending wording…

The issue leapt onto the national stage, with no less than former provincial Liberal leader David Peterson getting involved. It was eventually resolved in the pattys’ favour. I learned about this last night at a book launch, held by the Canadian High Commissioner, the Honourable Robert Ready, who hosted the event for the authors, a pair of Caribbean scholars who work at York University.

In addition to this delightful story, we also learned about Jamaica’s sizeable immigrant community in Canada (about 240,000 according to the 2006 census, but probably closer to 300,000 now) and the impact it has had on the nation. The book, titled “Jamaican-Canadians Role in Strengthening Democracy and Promoting Human Rights” was co-written by Professors Andrea Davis and Carl James. Interestingly, Dr. James noted that given Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent initiative to eliminate the long-form census, it is “even more difficult” for researchers to locate the information they need to conduct research.

Dr. James also spoke of Canada’s famed policies that encourage multi-culturalism and its membership in the Commonwealth as having encouraged a wave of Jamaican immigration starting in the 1950s. As a result, Dr. Davis told us, Jamaicans emerged from being labourers to fundamental participants in Canadian society.

It was an informative and enjoyable evening at which we also got to look around the Canadian High Commission’s grounds a bit. It is a large house surrounded by gorgeous landscaping and high walls and a security guard, of course. There is also a pool and a large area with a bar for entertaining. Sorry the pictures are dark!