Jamaica and the Republic of Colombia have forged a partnership to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices to strengthen the response to teenage pregnancy.

Diana Maria Parra Romero, advisor on gender affairs and gender-based foreign policy in Colombia, is in Jamaica to learn more about the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation’s (WCJF) programme for teenage mothers to establish a similar initiative in Colombia.

During her stay on the island, Romero will meet with officials of the WCJF, Bureau of Gender Affairs (BGA) and women’s organisations.

Romero, accompanied by the Ambassador of Colombia to Jamaica, Emiliana Bernard-Stephenson, and first secretary of the Colombian Embassy, Andres Perez, toured the WCJF in Kingston on Tuesday (March 5), to get a first-hand look at the facility and its programme offerings.

The WCJF, an agency of the Ministry of Culture and Gender, provides adolescent mothers with the opportunity to continue their education during pregnancy and prepare them for reintegration into the formal school system.

Also on the tour were chair of the WCJF board, Debby-Ann Brown Salmon; executive director of the WCJF, Novelette Howell; and director of field operations Beverley Martin Berry.

Brown Salmon said the WCJF has 10 main centres and four outreach stations island-wide that cater to the needs of girls who are pregnant, giving them a second chance to complete their education,

“It is about giving second chances. We don’t label at the centres; we do not judge at the centres,” she mused.

“We are not advocating for teens to get pregnant, but we say if it does happen there is a place for you to go and when we get you, we are going to treat you like the queens you are,” Brown Salmon added.

She noted that the WCJF is not only concerned about the girls but about their babies as well.

“They must know how to take care of their babies. We have nurseries with trained professionals who take care of the babies while the girls continue their education…that is what we are about, the continuing of your education,” she pointed out.

Sharon Coburn Robinson, principal director of the Bureau of Gender Affairs, who represented portfolio minister Olivia Grange, urged the girls to dream big and to believe in themselves.

“Understand that you are a very important person and you have the power in you to become what you want to be,” she said.

Robinson hailed Ambassador Bernard-Stephenson, who facilitated the visit of Parra Romero, for her support to the WCJF.  

The Advancement of Secondary/Tertiary/Remedial Education for Adolescent Mothers (A-STREAM) was developed in 2018 to increase the number of adolescent mothers who complete their secondary education after reintegration.

“Ambassador, in less than six months, you have walked quite a distance with the women’s centre. You have been doing a million things. You have become like family to us. You have donated funds to the– A-Stream programme and you have introduced the Diplomatic Corps to the wonderful work that we do with the young mothers,” she said.