The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, is pushing to have established, a Parliamentary Women’s Caucus which she noted would be dedicated to issues affecting female parliamentarians.

Grange said there has been need to establish such a collaborative space for women in the Parliament, “regardless of party affiliation or chamber”.

The aim, she said was to “foster productive dialogue on issues of women’s rights and gender equality, to network, and to take actions that have a positive impact on the legislature, the legislative process, and the country”.

“I recently tabled a motion for the establishment of such a collaborative space: a Bi-Cameral Group of Women Parliamentarians comprising a sessional select committee sitting jointly with a similarly established committee of the Senate,” said Grange.

She noted that if the motion is approved, it would see the Bi-Cameral Group of Women Parliamentarians becoming a fixture of every Parliament in the future – “a major development which supports our work to ensure that women are included in decision-making at all levels of society and that women’s issues are given appropriate focus on the national agenda”.

Grange disclosed that ParlAmericas is helping to facilitate a retreat with women parliamentarians later this year as efforts continue to develop mechanisms to ensure that Jamaica’s Bi-Cameral Group of Women Parliamentarians will have the desired positive impact.

ParlAmericas is an independent network made-up of the national legislatures of the 35 member states of the Organistion of American States. Founded in 2001 as the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas, its goal is to promote parliamentary participation in the inter-American system, and contribute to inter-parliamentary dialogue in dealing with issues on the hemispheric agenda.

Jamaica has a record number of 18 female parliamentarians in the House of Representatives with 14 on the government side and four on the opposition benches.