Women gather to address concerns

This weekend a large congregation of young women will gather at the St. John’s College Campus to speak out on a number of issues. According to Martha Carrillo, coordinator of the WIN-Belize two-day forum, women today are faced with urgent concerns that need to be addressed.

Martha Carrillo, Forum Coordinator

“What we are trying to do is to bring young women from across the country, including the islands to have an opportunity, a safe place to speak out on issues affecting young women at this moment. There are a lot of issues such as teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, lack of opportunities for further studies, especially for the young women in the rural areas, and we want to hear it from them. We want to hear what they have to say and we want to hear recommendations from them.”

Jacqueline Woods

“What will you do with those recommendations?”

Martha Carrillo

“What we intend to do is put together a document that will be sent probably to different agencies that work with women, but in addition to that, to send to the various ministries that are related to these issues.”

The activities got underway this evening with presentations depicting what it’s like to be a young female in different cultural settings. On Saturday, the women will be sharing their experiences and there will be a call-in session to give women who were not able to attend a chance to voice their concerns.