The Minister of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs, the Honourable Tara Rivers recently attended the 59th Commonwealth Parliamentarians Conference (CPC) as an official delegate from the Cayman Islands. Her participation included attendance at the Small Branches Conference and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian conference. Minister Rivers’ attendance has better equipped her to tackle the many issues and subject areas for which she has responsibility.

“Participating in the CPC was an absolutely worthwhile and directly beneficial experience,” said Minister Rivers. “Much of the plenary sessions and discussions I attended and in which I participated centred around the concerns of education, employment and gender affairs. These are areas of concern throughout the commonwealth, and the ability to share ideas and experiences as parliamentarians and the networking opportunities which facilitates further exchange of information was extremely helpful.”

During the course of one of the presentations at a plenary session, the Minister learned that, like the Cayman Islands, the States of Jersey also has a growing unemployment problem, which has caused the Jersey government to take quick and decisive action, as a result. It was stated that Jersey has around 2000 unemployed persons. In response, the Jersey government has dedicated £19 million to invest in various ‘back to work’ and other programmes aimed at dealing with the various segments of the unemployed community. Minister Rivers made it a point to follow up with the delegate from Jersey to obtain more detailed information about the various programmes implemented by that jurisdiction.

“High or higher levels of unemployment is a global issue with which most countries are grappling today,” she said. “Being able to discuss this issue and to come away with some examples of concrete solutions being implemented in jurisdictions that are similar to Cayman is extremely valuable information which will help to guide me in developing similar programmes for the unemployed persons here in the Cayman Islands. It also provides me with a better appreciation of how many resources, financial and otherwise, have been dedicated to tackling the issue of unemployment in other jurisdictions similar to ours.”

Minister Rivers has a strong history of attending overseas conferences and implementing solutions locally. “As a civil servant in the late 1990’s, I attended a workshop facilitated by the Commonwealth Youth Programme, held in Dominica, which dealt with developing National Youth Policies,” Minister Rivers stated. “As a result of attending that conference, and the information learned there, I was able to successfully spearhead the development of the first comprehensive National Youth Policy for the Cayman Islands, launched and adopted in 2000. The Cayman Islands was the first Caribbean country to achieve this feat. As a Minister I expect to operate no differently – my participation at overseas workshops and conferences aimed at parliamentarians and Ministers will be used to help facilitate the development of policies and programmes locally. Our country is simply in no position to lose out by not being at the table.”

One such programme is the development and introduction of an apprentice scheme geared towards getting persons in the door and back to work. “I, along with Councillor Connolly, had begun to develop the idea and details around introducing a national apprentice scheme in partnership with private sector in order to help persons get the opportunity to advance their skills and training on the job, while building a rapport with employers for long term employment prospects,” Minister Rivers stated. “Thanks to my participation at the CPC, I have since learned that Jersey has already employed a similar programme, from which we can learn and review when developing and implementing our programme, giving us a jumpstart on an idea which has already proved successful. While at the CPC, I was able to make contact with my counterpart in Jersey on this matter and will continue dialogue in the coming weeks, as we get ready to roll out our own programme.”

At the CPC, Minister Rivers was also able to learn about and receive information on an interesting educational initiative, aimed at increasing young peoples’ participation in the political process implemented in the States of Guernsey. “The States of Guernsey have lowered the voting age to 16,” she advised. “The policy change was made to encourage youth political participation and is supplemented by the development and implementation of a formal civics education programme aimed at educating young people about the importance of voting and the role of parliamentarians in their daily lives, and in society in general. Though I am not proposing a formal policy change regarding the voting age in the Cayman Islands at this stage, as a strong proponent of youth empowerment, I found the education programme to be very interesting and will look to develop and implement a similar civics education programme in our schools.”

Addressing the controversy that was created in the media at home whilst she attended the CPC, Minister Rivers stated, “It is unfortunate that what is considered normal and expected participation of parliamentarians at such important conferences, especially women parliamentarians whose participation is actively encouraged by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (“CPA”), has been dealt with in this manner by the local media. The unfortunate coincidence and irony is that one of the main topics of discussion at the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians conference was the discriminatory way in which women parliamentarians are often treated by the media in their respective countries. Discrimination against women in any and all forms is unacceptable and should not be perpetuated in the media or otherwise.”

Minister Rivers did confirm that she had received some questions from the Compass late in the evening on Thursday, the last day of the conference; however, due to the seven hour time difference and the difficulties she experienced with Internet, telecommunications and email connectivity at times, she was unable to respond until early Friday morning. By that time the Compass article and editorial had already been printed. However, no questions were received from CNS, prior to the publication of two articles on the subject.

“I absolutely understand and respect the role of the media in our country and have nothing to hide regarding my ministerial duties and travel,” added Minister Rivers. “In fact, my plans were in plain view of the people, as I posted information about my whereabouts and activities on my social media pages. But what the local media needs to appreciate is that we are in a new era of government and now is not the time to be sensationalising issues that have very simple explanations. Responsible journalism and understanding of the negative consequences of hasty and ill-informed reporting is paramount to stability and good governance. To carry on in any other manner is not good for our country or the media in which it is reported.”

“I do not expect to be above questioning or even criticism by the press, that is part and parcel of being an elected official. I do, however, expect to be treated equitably and with respect by the press. It’s disappointing that there was more importance given to rolling out a salacious story before the weekend, fueled from a one sided, ill-informed perspective, than to reporting from a balanced and informed perspective. From the obvious haste in which the articles were put together and the unreasonable time frame requested for a response to questions received at the 11th hour, coupled with the content of the article and editorial, it is clear that the intention was to impart controversy at the expense of the truth. I have received an outpouring of support and anger from so many of my constituents over the recent coverage. It is important that the media understands the affect they have on our society when they choose to make eye catching headlines without real substance.”

Despite the storm in a teacup at home, the Minister was diligently attending the conference and representing the Cayman Islands’ experience through her many contributions to the discussions throughout the week. She felt that it was a positive and enlightening experience from which she and the country will greatly benefit in her more informed role and capacity as Minister of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs. “I would like to thank the Cayman Islands branch of the CPA for giving me the opportunity to attend this very informative conference, and to thank the Premier for supporting my attendance as the government representative in the official delegation. I look forward to building upon the relationships and networks developed at the conference for the betterment of the Cayman Islands and our people.”