Grange to roll out programme for young boys
GENDER Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange has vowed to revamp and roll out a programme focused on building the values and attitudes of boys and young men this summer.
Speaking with the Jamaica
Observer at the opening of a new boardroom named in her honour at the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF), Grange said there is no programme currently focused on the development of young men and boys.
“Just like we have the women’s centre for the young ladies who get pregnant, we need to help some of these boys now,” said Grange.
The gender minister noted that in 2007 when she was minister of youth there was the Possibility Programme which focused on boys, particularly street children, but it was discontinued in the ministry and handed over to the St Andrew Parish Church.
Grange added that the then programme saw the boys receiving a hostel in Campbell Town, St Andrew, but she said it seems to now be dormant.
According to Grange, she intends to revisit the concept of treating with boys living on the streets, plus expanding the programme to meet the needs of young boys and young fathers.
“The Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation has a Young Father’s Programme so I am going to see how I can get the Women’s Centre’s programme to be expanded so we can treat with, not just young fathers but young boys and to help them to get training and develop values and provide counselling so that they can be better citizens and they can feel that there is support for them to become responsible young men,” said Grange.
She added: “I pulled down my files on the programme, as it was conducted recently, and I put together a team for us to fine-tune the concept and build out the programme – which will be one with collaboration between the Bureau of Gender Affairs and the WCJF.”
The gender minister further stressed the importance of not leaving men and boys behind.
“We have a special service unit in the Bureau of Gender Affairs for men and boys. Just recently, a few days after Father’s Day, we gave plaques to amazing dads, recognising them for their work and being role models. We did a pilot of a television programme that spoke to fathers and their relationship with their children and family. I am going to now do another series for television again. It was good and tear-jerking and I want to continue that.
“Men are asking for support. Many times I hear the calls and cries, ‘So what about us men?’ As the minister responsible for gender, it is not just about women. The bureau started as a desk in the Office of the Prime Minister many years ago, then it became the bureau expanded to a full entity. I introduced the desk for men when I changed the name from Bureau of Women’s Affairs to Bureau of Gender Affairs, and I established a desk for men. It has now been expanded to a unit and I think it’s important that we have full-blown programmes for men. We celebrate International Men’s Day in November, Father’s Day in June. We have a programme where men who are role models offer mentorship in schools. It is important we build out a programme for boys,” Grange said.
In the meantime, the gender minster said there are plans to include the girls at the WCJF in a summer school programme.
“The Women’s Centre never takes a break. We do a lot with the girls virtually [and] with a little easing of the restrictions there will be some face-to-face activities, but the work continues. Although the programme treats with the girls continuing their education and we do not operate similarly to the Ministry of Education where there are breaks, we continue the programme throughout,” declared Grange.