Ms. Judith Wedderburn is the recently retired Director of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, (FES) Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean, and for over 30 years, has been an advocate in the field of gender and development in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. Ms. Wedderburn was responsible for the conceptual development of education and training programmes, and the design and implementation of diverse “learning experiences”, which involved the use of conventional as well as participatory methodologies. These programmes were developed in collaboration with a diverse range of partners in civil society, the public sector, trade unions and the academic community, nationally and regionally.
Her main research areas and related publications include: impact of the globalization process on the foreign policy of Jamaica; gender, trade liberalization and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy; Gender and the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement; gender and poverty; gender-aware policy–making in the Caribbean; gender and trade union development in the Anglophone Caribbean; social reproduction and unpaid work; media, gender and development; Climate Change, Gender and Persons with Disabilities in Small Island Developing States; A Review and Gender Analysis of the “Climate Change Policy Framework for Jamaica”. As FES Director, her advocacy activities supported the work of key women’s organizations around human rights, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and women in leadership.
Through a partnership agreement with the IGDS Mona Unit, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Jamaica provided organizational, financial and intellectual support for a range of research projects, publications, a participatory-action-research project, and capacity building and advocacy activities which promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. Advocacy included support/promotion of the work of the Jamaica Household Workers’ Union around ILO Conventions.
