The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!

“Considerable quantities of food are loss and wasted across the supply chain and at the consumer level. We can do better.”- Rosa Rolle, FAO, Senior Enterprise Development Officer. We are all guilty. No one can dispute that we waste an enormous amount of food on a daily basis. Global food loss is valued at US$400 billion dollars yearly. The United Nations General Assembly designated 29 September as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) . The theme this year is ‘Stop Food Waste! For People and ! Planet’ . The day is co-convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Sadly, all across the world food banks and pantries are running low on food. Reducing food losses and waste is critical in a world where millions of people go to bed hungry nightly. This is unacceptable and is cause for concern. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states approximately 14 per...

“Eliminating nuclear weapons would be the greatest gift we could bestow on future generations.”- António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General. Many of us were probably not around when the United States of American used nuclear weapons on Japan during World War 2 which began in 1939 and lasted until 1945. On August 6, 1945, during World War II an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion immediately killed an estimated 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Thankfully, the world has never seen another nuclear annihilation since. However, Russia’s invasion of neighouring Ukraine has many questioning whether or not Vladimir Putin is likely to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine. The Russian president has said, “those who are trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons ...

“Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense.”- Mark Angelo. National Geographic defines a river as a ribbon-like body of water that flows downhill from the force of gravity. A river can be wide and deep, or shallow enough for a person to wade across. A flowing body of water that is smaller than a river is called a stream, creek, or brook. Some rivers flow year-round, while others flow only during certain seasons or when there has been a lot of rain. The largest rivers can be thousands of miles long. All rivers have a starting point where water begins its flow. This source is called a headwater. The other end of a river is called its mouth, where water empties into a larger body of water, such as a lake or ocean. Rivers can also form what is called an estuary, where salty seawater mixes with fresh water near the river mouth to form “brackish water.” Nothing is more soothing than having a river dip on a hot summer’s day or rafting on the Rio Grande. D...

“Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life in every society. It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality. And it continues to deny people their fundamental human rights. It destabilizes societies, undermines democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments, and… the linkages between racism and gender inequality are unmistakable.”- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2021 global military spending reached $2.1 trillion, rising for its seventh year in a row. The world has not known sustained peace for quite a while. There are wars in every corner of the world. It is safe to say by now everyone is aware of the Russian Ukraine War which began in February. However, there is no need to look that far given in Jamaica there have been more than 1,100 murders thus far. The world is in a crisis. Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the w...

There is nothing more disturbing for a male than to experience the enlargement of his breasts. Most men will become easily offended if they cannot conform to the expected standard for manhood. What is this expected standard? Among these standards of normal masculinity is that a man should look a certain way, with the ideal physique consisting of broad shoulders and a tapered torso, with plenty of muscle mass, big arms and visible abs along with a perfectly-shaped barrel chest. Of course in the real world many men will have departures from the ideal physique which is plastered in many gyms and which appears on numerous magazines. It is safe to say that such departures from the ideal and hegemonic masculinity oftentimes include big bellies and love handles. One area outside of what is perceived as normal masculinity is that of gynecomastia or “man boobs”. A man’s sense of masculinity and manhood are non-negotiable and are grounded to a large extent to his body image. Many men spend hour...

“To anyone out there who’s hurting it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help. It’s a sign of strength.”- Barack Obama. We all have down days. There are days when we feel like staying in bed all day. Depression is real and many of us experience this emotional roller coaster rather frequently. Unfortunately, some of us will reach that point in life where nothing matters anymore. However, there is always help and nothing is wrong with seeking the assistance of others as we cope with life and all that comes with it. World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), celebrated annually on 10 September, is organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The event represents a global commitment to focus attention on suicide prevention. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 703,000 people a year take their lives around the world. For every suicide, there are likely 20 other people making a suicide attempt and ma...

“Learning is strengthened and solidified when it occurs in a safe, secure and normal environment.”- Jean-Bertrand Aristide. September 9 marks the third United Nations (UN) International Day to Protect Education from Attack . All across geographic areas attacks on educational institutions continue to occur, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Ukraine, from Cameroon to Syria, from the West Bank to Yemen, from Nigeria to Somalia, the need to galvanize efforts, energy and commitment behind the protection of education in the context of armed conflict is sadly more urgent than ever. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in most countries with armed conflicts, the military use of schools and other educational institutions remains a constant feature, depriving students of their right to access quality education and teachers from the ability to deliver learning adequately. Over the past 6 years, the Global Coalition to Protect Edu...

“Literacy is about empowerment and gains for individuals, communities and societies. Literacy is a precondition to achieving our ambitions on competitiveness, healthy living, sustainability, social inclusion and active citizenship.”- Princess Laurentien- UNESCO Special Enjoy on Literacy. The literacy gap did not start with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic took a bad situation and made it worse. As the international community moves beyond the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced school closure, regrettably, academic normalcy remains out of reach for many students. This year’s observation of International Literacy Day has taken on an added significance given that schools are once again open, and face to face instruction is once again the teaching modality of choice. Literacy is a human right. Each year September 8th marks the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO’s) International Literacy Day. The day is set aside to raise awarene...

“Together, we can reduce air pollution and keep people and the planet healthy and safe."- António Guterres, United Nations Secretary General. Clean air is fundamental to health. The United Nations states that air pollution is the single greatest environmental risk to human health and one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally, with some estimated 6.5 million premature deaths (2016) across the world attributed to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Particularly in developing countries, air pollution disproportionately affects women, children and the elderly, especially in low-income populations as they are often exposed to high levels of ambient air pollution and indoor air pollution from cooking and heating with wood fuel and kerosene. Air pollution is a global problem with far-reaching impacts owing to its transport over long distances. In the absence of aggressive intervention, the number of premature deaths resulting from ambient air pollution is estimated to...