Also to be launched is a study which assesses some of the major hindrances to women's elevation on the corporate scene.

The initiative, 'Strengthening Women's Leadership in Jamaica', is being held under the aegis of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). It was designed to correct problems highlighted in a Canadian International Develop-ment Agency-funded gender and governance study.

Rights-based approach

The training programme, being implemented by Women's Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC), responds specifically to the findings of a study undertaken by researcher Carol Watson-Williams, which shows that little progress has been made in the last decade for women serving on boards and commissions in Jamaica.

The training project is built around the rights-based approach to women's issues, which is facilitated by the Convention on the Elimin-ation of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

The training is being held in collaboration with the Centre for Gender and Development Studies, Mona; the Jamaica Women's Political Caucus and the corporate governance committee of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.

The project will address inhibitors pointed to in the study, which found that in the last decade women's participation on boards here only moved marginally - by two per cent in the private sector and four per cent in the public sector.

It also pointed to some key factors behind the data, which includes that while men believe overwhelmingly that women were prepared for senior decision-making positions on boards and com-missions, women did not share the view as enthusiastically.

"Women, while acknowledging that they have the academic qualifications and the intelligence to lead, do not always feel groomed for decision-making positions," the study found.

"They are, therefore, ambivalent about their readiness. This has implications for how women situate themselves for high level appoint-ments, how they embrace the challenge when approached, how they view their contributions when chosen, and how they mentor other women to assume similar positions."

Training skills

The UNDEF project will provide training and skills development opportunities for women with activities, including:

Training of a cadre of 100 women for leadership at the level of public- and private-sector boards and commissions.

Training of 15 grass-roots women to be community facilitators able to educate persons about CEDAW.

Establishing a database of women able and willing to serve on boards and com-missions.

Training will examine management and corporate-governance issues and the historical roots of women's rights struggles in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

The book Gender and Governance: Implications for the Participation of Women on Boards and Commissions in Jamaica - which details the study - will also be launched at the event.