A team of UWI researchers from the Regional Coordinating Unit of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) along with members of the Institutes of Gender and Development Studies from Cave Hill and St. Augustine will participate in a workshop to support the establishment of a gender and development course for civil society and other key stakeholder in Haiti. The Workshop takes place from May 11-12.

The effort is part of a UN Women funded project to support a regional partnership between the University of the West Indies and the Universite Quisqueya (Haiti). This workshop will be followed by another which will be lead by other Caribbean based experts. The Workshop is designed to assist in the development of skills in academic programme formulation and the designing of new curricula and pedagogical approaches in gender and development. It is hoped that the Workshop will contribute to the implementation of appropriate certification programmes at the Universite Quisqueya. Such programmes would improve the gender analysis, policy and planning skills of public sector workers, NGOs, students and activists in Haiti.

The endeavour is in keeping with UWI’s support to Haiti through the Haitian Initiative since 2010. UWI’s support to higher education in Haiti saw twenty five students of the State University of Haiti completing the final year of their degree programme at the Mona Campus on full scholarships. Other efforts by the Campus have included assistance in the recovery and preservation of Haitian historical records as the earthquake significantly damaged the main library and archive buildings which house the documents of the country's rich history. The UWI, Mona, Jamaica Language Unit, Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy also organized workshops on Haitian Creole designed to assist in the relief efforts in Haiti by bridging the language barrier between the disaster relief experts and the Haitian population.