Advancing gender equality in the Caribbean: legislative approaches to sex discrimination

Introduction The 1990s was marked by a process of review of governmental policy towards the attainment of the goal of gender equality and equity. To a large extent, this review process was facilitated and strengthened by the preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women which allowed for assessments and reviews both of the achievements and as well as the strategies for the promotion of gender equality. In this review, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (ECLAC/CDCC) secretariat convened the Third Ministerial Meeting on Women, 4-6 October, 1999 at which a number of recommendations were made. The meeting acknowledged that the member States had all signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (the Women's Convention). However, the delegates urged the strengthening of the process of review and reform of legislation and of administrative and bureaucratic practices to ensure the full compliance with, in particular, the Women's Convention. This paper seeks to contribute to that process by providing a review and assessment of equality legislation in the Caribbean subregion, with particular attention to the English-speaking Caribbean.