Olivia 'Babsy' Grange

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, says the portfolio of women's and gender affairs has been assigned to her ministry.

Minister Grange was responding to an American Women's Organisations of Jamaica (AWOJA) statement which noted that no portfolio or responsibility for women's affairs or gender affairs had been assigned in the new Jamaica Labour Party Cabinet.

"It has been assigned, (it is) just that the information has not been officially announced," Minister Grange told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

Announcement to come

"The announcement will be done in a manner with a special announcement within a very short period. I would say within a week's time," she added. "But I have to speak with the Prime Minister (Bruce Golding) first before any more information is released."

President of AWOJA, Hermione McKenzie, stated in a letter this week that, since the early 1970s, by international consensus and with the active support of the United Nations, which has a Division for the Advancement of Women, a governmental machinery has been established which works to improve the conditions of women and matters related to gender relations.