On Friday October 15, St. Lucian non-profit Helen’s Daughters unveiled a new campaign “Helping Helen Thrive”, to coincide with the observance of International Day of the Rural Woman. The reveal took place at a press launch held at Alliance Française Pointe Seraphine.
In 2008, the United Nations declared October 15, as International Day of the Rural Woman to honour the crucial role women play in ensuring the sustainability of rural households and communities. Rural women make up one-quarter of the world’s population and one in three employed women around the world works in agriculture.
Helen’s Daughters’ mission is to use Agribusiness as a tool for the empowerment of the rural woman. Since its establishment in 2016, Helen’s Daughters has focused on rural women’s economic development through improved market access, adaptive agricultural techniques, new technologies, and capacity-building.
Presenting at Friday’s launch Executive Director of Helen’s Daughters Ms. Keithlin Caroo explained “this campaign “Helping Helen Thrive” is aimed at raising awareness of the value of the work of the rural woman in agriculture and by extension the work of Helen’s Daughters as an organization. Furthermore, it is positioned to underscore the role of the rural woman as a key stakeholder in helping find solutions to the growing challenges of food security, climate change and sustainable development. It also punctuates how the function of women in agriculture connects to other critical parts of our lives, such as wellness, language (Kwéyòl Literacy) and technology.”
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development Honourable Alfred Prospere, and Honourable Dr. Virginia Albert-Poyotte, Minister for the Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs were also in attendance at Friday’s event.
During his remarks, the Minister for Agriculture posited “given where we are with agriculture today, this is an opportune time to have rural women working towards empowering more women to get into the sector, especially since we have an aging, male dominated agricultural sector. This sector is at a point which requires major transformation.”
‘Helping Helen Thrive’ will feature exciting social media promotions with meaningful prizes and giveaways, special weekly programming, featured articles with industry leaders and pioneering rural women, and digital events, which will run from October- December 18, 2021.
Key partners for this campaign include Women’s Voice & Leadership-Caribbean (Equality Fund), Alliance Franciase Saint Lucia, The French Embassy and Bank of Saint Lucia Limited.