KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Member of Parliament for East Rural St Andrew, Juliet Holness is encouraging more Jamaicans to become advocates in order to influence the decision makers and achieve change in the society.

“We are the current leaders and shapers of our own destiny. We are no longer fighting a slave master or the colonial power, and so we should encourage the principles of advocacy to achieve our ends in a civilised society,” she said.

“I am challenging us to look at the rules that need to be changed, look at the gaps, be they in the standing orders of Parliament or the Offences of the Persons Act… in the dress code policies of government entities or in the rules of educational institutions. Craft solutions that are morally grounded, yet culturally relevant for our people, while continuing to reinforce the fact that rules matter and order is crucial to the survival and the advancement of our nation,”  Holness noted.

She was speaking at the 25th Anniversary Awards Luncheon of the Jamaica Women’s Political Caucus held yesterday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Holness, who is the wife of the Prime Minister, noted that while Jamaicans come from a history of activism, through the use of resistance, riot and revolt to bring about change, advocacy has become a more engaging and effective approach in modern society.

 “Speak to the ills in society without partisan biases, because, at the end of the day, it will be our society; it will be  our children who will be living here – the children we intend to raise, the families we intend to lead,” Holness pointed out.

She also called on more women to enter representational politics and build on the legacy of other women who have served and continue to work in the best interest of the country.

She also coined the acronym TEACH, in encouraging women to transform, elevate, advocate, collaborate and harmonise in effecting change.