Women in Maritime Association established
WOMEN in Maritime Association, Caribbean (WiMa) has officially been launched.
The association was established during a Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ) conference in April in Montego Bay, a first in the region. The conference was attended by over 45 strategy officials from 15 Caribbean states and neighbouring countries.
Among the presenters at the workshop was Commander Antoinette Wemyss Gorman, first female commanding officer of the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard.
She recounted her arduous journey on entering the coast guard and getting to her current level.
“Women in the maritime field today are leaders,” she said. “We are leading the way for other women to follow. We must mentor and inspire them to be all that they can be in this very exciting and diverse industry.”
The various country presentations listed challenges and barriers to the work of women in the maritime sector, including balancing family and work life, lack of promotion opportunities, no access to ships, ridicule from male counterparts, harassment and low wages.
Sharon Folkes-Abraham, minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, commended the establishment of this association to deepen the integration of women in the maritime sector as both timely and appropriate. She expressed the need for more women to be trained and employed in non-traditional areas, not based on gender, but on their ability.
The conference agreed on the need to develop a code of good practice to ensure that issues of women’s genuine participation, access, performance and mobility in sea-going and shore-based maritime sectors are governed by globally recognised rights-based and gender diversity standards.
The meeting selected the executive council which hails from Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago and adopted the articles of association and resolution on the establishment of the association.
Claudia Grant, deputy director general of the MAJ and elected president of WiMA, Caribbean, expressed excitement at the establishment of this association.
“While the association seeks to adopt policies to empower women, it is not designed to exclude men in the sector, but rather seeks co-operation and collaboration between men and women working together for the advancement of this very important maritime sector,” she said.
