Dominica EC$270,000 lottery winner urged to claim prize

Monday, December 15, 2014 | 10:27 AM    

ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) – Somebody in Dominica is holding a lottery ticket for EC$270,000 (US$100,000) and the Dominica National Lottery (DNL) is urging the person to cash in the ticket.

“We at the Dominica National Lottery are sending a plea to the general public with interest and lottery players to pay close attention to their ticket of various games.

“We are particularly interested in the winner of the super six games of $270,000 that was won on the 14th of November 2014 and has not presented their winning ticket,” said DNL marketing manager Ken George.

George said that the winning ticket was bought in Grandbay, south of here, and that “while the winner has 90 days to present their winning ticket, it is our responsibility to encourage the playing public to kindly redeem their tickets at the earliest”.

George said it would be said for such a sum to be lost in the “current economic climate”.

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Dominica EC$270,000 lottery winner urged to claim prize

Caribbean people urged to eat less salt and live longer

(Credit: Caribbean360 / Bigstock)

NEW YORK, United States, Tuesday July 15, 2014, CMC – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has urged Caribbean nationals and others in the Americas to decrease salt intake to help reduce hypertension – the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

“Salt reduction is recognized as the most cost-effective intervention for population-based prevention of hypertension, and it is one of the WHO (World Health Organization) best buys,” said PAHO’s Dominican-born Director, Dr Carissa F. Etienne, last week.

Stating that reducing salt consumption could save 8.5 million lives globally over 10 years, PAHO urged more countries to launch national salt reduction initiatives to prevent hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

“The cardiovascular benefits of reduced salt intake are on par with the benefits of population-wide reductions in tobacco use, obesity, and cholesterol levels,” Etienne added.

PAHO said a dozen countries in the Americas, including the Caribbean, have launched salt-reduction campaigns as part of PAHO’s regional ‘Salt-Smart Americas’ initiative. The initiative is based on research showing that overconsumption of dietary salt contributes to high blood pressure, which is the leading risk factor for death and the second-leading risk factor for disability worldwide.

Between one-fifth and one-third of adults in the Americas suffer from high blood pressure.

PAHO stated that reducing salt consumption by just one gramme per day per capita over 10 years would be more cost-effective than using medications to lower blood pressure in all people with hypertension.

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Caribbean people urged to eat less salt and live longer

Grenadians urged to accept sacrifices to rebuild economy – Mitchell

Peter Richards

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Friday July 4, 2014, CMC – Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell Thursday urged support for a proposal seeking to reduce the debt owed to the National Insurance Scheme under the same terms and conditions being proposed to international creditors.

Mitchell, speaking to reporters here, said that while his administration is fully aware of the important role of the NIS the request for the haircut must be put in the context of the island seeking assistance to deal with its debt burden, “…we have also understood in the process of going forward with our structural adjustment programme and asking everyone regionally and internationally to help us and provide some haircut that we must in fact ask our own (to do the same).

“The question therefore is how do we go forward. So we will be working with the NIS…and the workers and unions and all concerned to ensure that nothing is done to reduce the capacity of the NIS to meet its fundamental responsibilities,” he said.

The Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) has already said it would not support the government after Communications and Works Minister Gregory Bowen confirmed that the Mitchell administration would seek the haircut as part of debt restructuring initiative.

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The amount of money owed to the NIS has not been disclosed but it represents workers’ contributions the government has failed to pay over the years.

“Our union understands the fiscal difficulties faced by the State and the challenges that confront the country but the debt to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) cannot be equated to the debt to the commercial banks or other financial institutions,” TAWU said in a statement, adding that workers were already making great sacrifices by the payment of increased taxation as family income continues to fall and the unemployment rate continues to rise.

TAWU described the NIS as “sacred territory” and called on the called on the Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC) “to resolutely resist all attempts to cut Government indebtedness to the NIS and this must be clearly understood by all”.

However, the business sector representative in the Senate Christopher De Allie believes that government is taking the right approach because it will be unfair to ask international creditors for a haircut and not local lenders.

“There is need to have equity with all lenders,” De Allie said.

Mitchell told reporters that the decision of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a US$21.9 million structural adjustment programme for the island last week, would help in the payment of outstanding arrears to many creditors.

The government announced Thursday that the World Bank had already approved US$15 million for Grenada and Mitchell said “this is further evidence of the confidence of the international community in Grenada’s policies, especially as regarding the homegrown programme”.

He said one of the conditions for the funds to Grenada is that “we must pay some of the suppliers of services to our country which over the last two, three years have not been paid so a lot of business in the country have provided services to the government over the past two or three years and have not been paid”.

Mitchell said that some of these businesses have had to use overdraft facilities which are very expensive and “therefore we have to meet our responsibility.

“In doing so that will be a big plus for us because it will release some disposal income in the country as a whole and help businesses and others to take additional initiatives and expand economic opportunities in the country.

“So we will be paying off some of the local debt and some of our regional organisations like the Supreme Court of the OECS, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, the OECS Secretariat and a number of regional and international institutions that we have reneged on our responsibilities…”

Mitchell, who is attending the annual summit of the CARICOM leaders here, said his administration would also be establishing a number of programmes involving the private sector and the trade union including a housing programme to “’aid the development of house repair programme in the country and soft loans for people to expand their homes.

“In some cases looking at building low income houses for people…and there are many other programmes including small business development,” he told reporters.

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Grenadians urged to accept sacrifices to rebuild economy – Mitchell

Policy makers urged to close gender gap in regional trade, business

Regional trade policymakers called for further sensitisation and education on “gender mainstreaming” in their respective territories, as they came to the end of Day 2 of the Caribbean Development Bank’s seminar on Gender Mainstreaming in Caribbean Trade Policies and Programmes, in Barbados.

Delegates from across the region, looked at recent statistics, challenges and best practices relating to gender equality and mainstreaming in trade and commerce. The day’s presentations allowed the trade experts to assess the situation in their respective territories, in respect of gender mainstreaming, and to identify possible needs and next steps in the way forward.

ITC challenge

Meg Jones, Senior Officer, Millenium Development Goals at the International Trade Centre (ITC), who was lead facilitator for the discussions, charged the participants to use the information they receive during the CDB seminar, to guide their work and decisions going forward in the area of trade in their respective countries.

Jones emphasised the importance of implementing Gender-Sensitive Value Chain Analyses as one way of ensuring gender mainstreaming in trade policy development. This method includes an examination of gender roles at each step required to bring a product/service from conception to consumption. This approach is expected to effectively identify where there are gender inequalities and where investment in training is really needed in the given process.

On the cusp

Denise Noel-De Bique, Gender Equality Advisor at the CDB, said the region is on the cusp of change linked to global debates to inform a new sustainable development agenda. She told the delegates, “This workshop is a signal moment in advancing CDB’s work in building awareness and positioning policy makers for integrating gender in the context of trade.  We look forward to continuing to build on this at the national level to further this transformative process.”

The workshop examined research data provided by Professor Miguel Carillo of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business in Trinidad and Tobago.

Trade/business gender gap

Using the Global Enterpeneurship Monitor (GEM), Professor Carillo disclosed that the most recent international data confirms that there is still a gender gap worldwide in the area of trade and business. He explained that women entrepeneurs struggle at the point of transforming their businesses from the early stages into established companies.

Professor Carillo told the participants that, while women are more inclined to start a business as a means of providing for their families, they showed less confidence than men in their capacity to succeed in business.

The Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) also called for greater input from a wide range of stakeholders in coming up with effective trade policy.

Shantal Munro-Knight, CPDC’s representative at the seminar,  said certain groups in society are still not given the space for effective participation in stakeholder engagement and as a result, the importance of the gender perspective is not always fully understood. According to her, there is lack of coherence between trade and economic policy and social development policy in the region.

“Trade policy cannot be simply (decided and) announced by governments. Policy must be a clear and thought-out process,” Munro Knight said.

Ugandan Model

Using the Ugandan model, the ITC’s Jeanette Sutherland then discussed critical factors needed to ensure a gender-sensitive export strategy.

The four-day seminar, co-hosted by the CDB and ITC, was designed to increase awareness of the value of mainstreaming gender into the Caribbean’s trade and economic development agenda, and to improve participants’ gender mainstreaming skills. The event targeted senior policy makers from the Ministry of Trade and operational staff from other trade support institutions and agencies within CARIFORUM Member States.

The seminar, which started on June 16, was scheduled to end on Thursday.

SOURCE: Caribbean Development Bank

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Policy makers urged to close gender gap in regional trade, business

Jamaica urged to deepen trade relations with Brazil

BRAZIL and Jamaica must move beyond exchanges in just music and culture, and deepen their trade relations, says the Brazilian ambassador to Jamaica.

“We need to know each other better. Brazil needs to know Jamaica beyond reggae and Usain Bolt. These are certainly great brands, but we need to make these brands connect,” Antonio Francisco da Costa e Silva Neto stated in his keynote address at a luncheon hosted by JN Small Business Loans Limited (JNSBL) at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.“Jamaica needs to talk not only about looking ‘south’ but they have to ‘do the walk south’,” the ambassador added at the luncheon aimed at strengthening the dialogue to increase business between the two countries.He commended the Donovan McFarlane-led Jamaica-Brazil Chamber of Commerce delegation to Jamaica, adding that the time had come for Jamaica to establish a sister organisation in Kingston to deepen the discussions about doing business with Brazil.“We should have a sister organisation to develop closer ties, which does not only involve trade; but investment and joint venture investments; partnerships, to not only tap into the Brazilian and Jamaican markets, but to also to tap into markets that Brazil may have access to, such as other South American markets,” he declared.He also maintained that the Brazilian Embassy was willing and ready to help.“The Brazilian Embassy is not only here to promote sports, as good as that would be; but we are also here to help Jamaica to export more to Brazil,” he stated.His comments were welcomed by Earl Jarrett, general manager of Jamaica National,who said the local private sector could look at establishing a “business club” to facilitate greater knowledge-sharing about the opportunities for business in Brazil and Jamaica, and facilitate talks on issues impacting trade between the two countries.According to Jarrett, there is still a lack of knowledge about opportunities for the private sector in both countries, which has been an impediment to trade during the past 50 years, despite the diplomatic relationship between the nations.“Such a facility would help to support the work the Jamaica-Brazil Chamber of Commerce, which is already providing another space for dialogue on the possibilities and the issues that prevent us from capitalising on our bilateral relations over the past century,” Jarrett said.The JN general manager noted that there was still a need for a regularised visa agreement between the countries, to facilitate Jamaicans seeking to trade with Brazil. Under the current visa agreement, Jamaicans who hold diplomatic passports and official passports may stay in Brazil for up to 90 days, while ordinary Jamaicans are required to obtain a visa, although Brazilians may stay in Jamaica for up to 30 days without a visa.He added that there was also need for better air linkages between the countries if Jamaica is to improve business with Brazil, pointing to “the lack of direct flights between the two countries, which is a barrier to the need for expanded cooperation with the South American nation”.Echoing a similar point, Arnaldo Brown, minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, added that the ease of travel is critical to trade with Brazil. And, in relation to tourism, he said, “At present we are aware that out of South Africa there are direct flights into Brazil and Jamaica is going to see how we can make that full circle from Brazil into Kingston.”Brown said, in that regard, the issue of intra-regional travel also needed to be tackled. He suggested that the proposed logistics hub will become important to travel, “because, we are not only speaking about the movement of people, but cargo, as well.”Industry Minister Anthony Hylton noted that the transhipment project was vital to vastly improving the island’s competitiveness, and should deepen Jamaica-Brazil trade relations.“With the logistics hub you are talking about a greater integration of Jamaica into the global economy and the movement of passengers and goods globally,” he stated. “We will have the links between Jamaica and Brazil enhanced.”With constant high economic growth rates and a population of nearly 200 million people, Brazil is the world’s seventh largest economy and is also considered the seventh largest in terms of purchasing power parity, with GDP per capita of some US$10,200.In his remarks, Donovan McFarlane, president of the Jamaica-Brazil Chamber of Commerce, noted that more than 45 million Brazilians had moved into the middle class in recent years.“And with their assent into the world of the middle class has come a world of new consumer opportunities. This rising consumer class is expected to be a driving force in facilitating the strength in the consumer market due to its exceptional spending power,” he stated.However, despite these opportunities, Jamaica has maintained a trade deficit with Brazil. In 2012 imports from Brazil of mostly ethanol and corned beef, amounted to US$240 million, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, while exports from Jamaica to Brazil amounted to US$9.4 million leaving a deficit of US$230.4 million.McFarlane said the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games will provide further opportunities for entrepreneurs in Jamaica and other countries to expand their businesses, noting that the Jamaica-Brazil Chamber was willing to support businesses ready to make a move.“The Jamaica-Brazil Chamber of Commerce seeks the cooperation and support of businesses and organisations to afford us the opportunity of moving forward together,” McFarlane affirmed. “We are ready and equipped with the tools necessary to help you to achieve success.” The Christ the Redeemer statue stands back-dropped by Sugar Loaf mountain (right) as the sun sets in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Brazilian ambassador to Jamaica, Antonio Francisco da Costa e Silva Neto.

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Jamaica urged to deepen trade relations with Brazil

Twitter action urged after threats

27 July 2013 Last updated at 16:49 ET By Keith Moore BBC News Caroline Criado-Perez: Twitter complaints procedure “completely inadequate”

A petition calling on Twitter to add a “report abuse” button has received thousands of signatures.

It follows a deluge of abuse and rape threats received by Caroline Criado-Perez, who successfully campaigned for women to be included on UK banknotes.

MP Stella Creasy told the BBC she was “furious” Twitter had yet to do anything about Ms Criado-Perez’s abuse.

Twitter UK’s Tony Wang said the company was “testing ways to simplify” reporting abuse.

‘Frequently ignored’

Ms Criado-Perez, who had appeared in the media to campaign for women to feature on banknotes, said the abusive tweets began the day it was announced that author Jane Austen would appear on the newly designed £10 note.

She reported them to the police after receiving “about 50 abusive tweets an hour for about 12 hours” and said she had “stumbled into a nest of men who co-ordinate attacks on women”.

Continue reading the main story

Once again, a social network is at the centre of a storm over hateful and offensive content posted by its own users.

Twitter now faces a tricky dilemma – it has never been keen to police the messages posted by its users, and wants to be seen as a protector of free speech.

If it agrees to campaigners’ demands for a “report abuse” button on every tweet, it will then need to employ an army of monitors to respond to complaints and decide what constitutes abuse.

The company would prefer that threatening tweets were referred to the police, who in the UK have been active in pursuing social media users suspected of breaking the law.

But with a campaign for a boycott on 4 August gathering pace, Twitter will need to show it understands the pressure to make the network a safer and more polite place – and come up with ideas to make that happen.

Ms Criado-Perez, from Rutland, told the BBC she had also tried to contact Twitter’s manager of journalism and news, Mark Luckie, about the rape threats she was receiving, but he did not respond and locked his tweets to become private.

She said the form that allows Twitter users to report abuse was not adequate – particularly when such a high volume of abuse was being received. “Twitter need to be on the side of the victims,” she said.

An online petition has been started in response to the abuse Ms Criado-Perez received calling for Twitter to introduce a “report abuse” button. It had been signed by more than 9,000 people by 15:00 BST on Saturday.

Kim Graham from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, put the petition online at 09:00 BST after seeing abuse that Ms Criado-Perez had been getting. She told the BBC the “report abuse” button was something that came into her mind after finding it was “harder than it should be to report abuse”.

The petition says: “Abuse on Twitter is common; sadly too common. And it frequently goes ignored. We need Twitter to recognise that its current reporting system is below required standards.

“The report abuse button needs to be accompanied by Twitter reviewing the T&C [terms and conditions] on abusive behaviour to reflect an awareness of the complexity of violence against women, and the multiple oppressions women face. It’s time Twitter started protecting its users.”

‘Hate crime’

Ms Criado-Perez’s cause has been supported by other prominent tweeters, including the journalists Caitlin Moran and Suzanne Moore and Independent columnist Owen Jones.

Ms Moran has called for a 24-hour Twitter boycott on 4 August to try to get Twitter to come up with an “anti-troll policy”.

Labour MP Ms Creasy said: “This is not a technology crime – this is a hate crime. If they were doing it on the street, the police would act.”

She told the BBC she had been chasing Twitter for the past 24 hours but they had not yet responded to her.

“I am absolutely furious with Twitter that they are not engaging in this at all,” she said.

A Twitter spokesperson said: “The ability to report individual tweets for abuse is currently available on Twitter for iPhone and we plan to bring this functionality to other platforms, including Android and the web.

“We don’t comment on individual accounts. However, we have rules which people agree to abide by when they sign up to Twitter. We will suspend accounts that once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules.

“We encourage users to report an account for violation of the Twitter rules by using one of our report forms.”

The general manager of Twitter UK, Tony Wang, later tweeted that the company was “testing ways to simplify reporting, e.g. within a Tweet by using the ‘Report Tweet’ button in our iPhone app and on mobile web”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that “officers from Camden have received an allegation regarding comments made via a social network, that was reported on 25 July”.

He added that “inquiries continue” but so far there had been “no arrests”.

There have been some high profile arrests related to celebrities abused on Twitter, including a teenager arrested over the abuse of Great Britain’s Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Guidelines published by the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer in June said there should be a “high threshold for prosecution in cases involving communications which may be considered grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false”.

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Twitter action urged after threats

Twitter action urged after threats

27 July 2013 Last updated at 16:49 ET By Keith Moore BBC News Caroline Criado-Perez: Twitter complaints procedure “completely inadequate”

A petition calling on Twitter to add a “report abuse” button has received thousands of signatures.

It follows a deluge of abuse and rape threats received by Caroline Criado-Perez, who successfully campaigned for women to be included on UK banknotes.

MP Stella Creasy told the BBC she was “furious” Twitter had yet to do anything about Ms Criado-Perez’s abuse.

Twitter UK’s Tony Wang said the company was “testing ways to simplify” reporting abuse.

‘Frequently ignored’

Ms Criado-Perez, who had appeared in the media to campaign for women to feature on banknotes, said the abusive tweets began the day it was announced that author Jane Austen would appear on the newly designed £10 note.

She reported them to the police after receiving “about 50 abusive tweets an hour for about 12 hours” and said she had “stumbled into a nest of men who co-ordinate attacks on women”.

Continue reading the main story

Once again, a social network is at the centre of a storm over hateful and offensive content posted by its own users.

Twitter now faces a tricky dilemma – it has never been keen to police the messages posted by its users, and wants to be seen as a protector of free speech.

If it agrees to campaigners’ demands for a “report abuse” button on every tweet, it will then need to employ an army of monitors to respond to complaints and decide what constitutes abuse.

The company would prefer that threatening tweets were referred to the police, who in the UK have been active in pursuing social media users suspected of breaking the law.

But with a campaign for a boycott on 4 August gathering pace, Twitter will need to show it understands the pressure to make the network a safer and more polite place – and come up with ideas to make that happen.

Ms Criado-Perez, from Rutland, told the BBC she had also tried to contact Twitter’s manager of journalism and news, Mark Luckie, about the rape threats she was receiving, but he did not respond and locked his tweets to become private.

She said the form that allows Twitter users to report abuse was not adequate – particularly when such a high volume of abuse was being received. “Twitter need to be on the side of the victims,” she said.

An online petition has been started in response to the abuse Ms Criado-Perez received calling for Twitter to introduce a “report abuse” button. It had been signed by more than 9,000 people by 15:00 BST on Saturday.

Kim Graham from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, put the petition online at 09:00 BST after seeing abuse that Ms Criado-Perez had been getting. She told the BBC the “report abuse” button was something that came into her mind after finding it was “harder than it should be to report abuse”.

The petition says: “Abuse on Twitter is common; sadly too common. And it frequently goes ignored. We need Twitter to recognise that its current reporting system is below required standards.

“The report abuse button needs to be accompanied by Twitter reviewing the T&C [terms and conditions] on abusive behaviour to reflect an awareness of the complexity of violence against women, and the multiple oppressions women face. It’s time Twitter started protecting its users.”

‘Hate crime’

Ms Criado-Perez’s cause has been supported by other prominent tweeters, including the journalists Caitlin Moran and Suzanne Moore and Independent columnist Owen Jones.

Ms Moran has called for a 24-hour Twitter boycott on 4 August to try to get Twitter to come up with an “anti-troll policy”.

Labour MP Ms Creasy said: “This is not a technology crime – this is a hate crime. If they were doing it on the street, the police would act.”

She told the BBC she had been chasing Twitter for the past 24 hours but they had not yet responded to her.

“I am absolutely furious with Twitter that they are not engaging in this at all,” she said.

A Twitter spokesperson said: “The ability to report individual tweets for abuse is currently available on Twitter for iPhone and we plan to bring this functionality to other platforms, including Android and the web.

“We don’t comment on individual accounts. However, we have rules which people agree to abide by when they sign up to Twitter. We will suspend accounts that once reported to us, are found to be in breach of our rules.

“We encourage users to report an account for violation of the Twitter rules by using one of our report forms.”

The general manager of Twitter UK, Tony Wang, later tweeted that the company was “testing ways to simplify reporting, e.g. within a Tweet by using the ‘Report Tweet’ button in our iPhone app and on mobile web”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that “officers from Camden have received an allegation regarding comments made via a social network, that was reported on 25 July”.

He added that “inquiries continue” but so far there had been “no arrests”.

There have been some high profile arrests related to celebrities abused on Twitter, including a teenager arrested over the abuse of Great Britain’s Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Guidelines published by the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer in June said there should be a “high threshold for prosecution in cases involving communications which may be considered grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false”.

View the original article here

Twitter action urged after threats

Seniors urged to limit salt consumption

SENIOR citizens are being urged to limit the consumption of salt in order to prevent and control hypertension or high blood pressure.

The advice came from consultant cardiologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Dr Victor Elliott, as he addressed the eighth staging of the Annual Men’s Health Day Seminar recently at the St Andrew Parish Church Hall.Hypertension, commonly known as the silent killer, is sustained or persistent elevation of the pressure required to maintain blood circulation adequately throughout the body. It often has no symptoms or warning signs, but can easily be detected with regular blood pressure checks.According to Dr Elliot one in every five Jamaicans has hypertension. The disease is the leading cause of death, stroke, heart and kidney failure, blindness, heart attacks and poor circulation among Jamaicans.Dr Elliot said that in most cases, the cause of hypertension is unknown, but it is often influenced by excessive consumption of salt in the diet, alcohol, and lack of exercise.“As adults we have to choose our food wisely, and in doing so, read food labels to know what is incorporated in the food items being purchased. Use fresh poultry, fish and lean meat, rather than canned or processed. Buy fresh vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, use herbs, spices and salt-free seasoning blends in cooking. Eliminate the use of table salt, and choose convenience foods that are low in sodium to control or prevent high blood pressure,” he advised.Dr Elliot also cited the importance of physical activity, noting that people who are inactive, are 50 per cent more likely to develop high blood pressure.He recommended that seniors who are hypertensive should continue taking the prescribed medications, eat healthy, and stay fit to combat the disease. Those who are non-hypertensive are urged to practise a healthy lifestyle to prevent high blood pressure.“Seniors, I am imploring you to take charge of your health, eat right, take care of your heart, get regular health check-ups, because hypertension kills, and destroys family life, so take good care of your inner health, and enjoy life to the fullest,” he urged.Oswald DaCosta, who attended the session, said the information presented on hypertension, among other areas, helped to widen his knowledge.“I am more health conscious in terms of eating the right food and I am eliminating salt from my diet totally. I also didn’t read food labels and exercise much, but now I am encouraged to, so I can stay fit as I grow older each day,” said the 85-year-old.Other presentations focused on proper nutrition, herbal medicines and pharmaceutical drugs that can assist in the treatment of hypertension.In addition, the seniors were given nail and foot care treatment, as well as hair grooming.The health seminar, hosted by the National Council for Senior Citizens, also included the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, HEART Trust/ NTA, Eyeland Eyewear, Coconut Industry Board, Seven Seas, and the National Health Fund.

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Seniors urged to limit salt consumption

Parents urged to teach children about safe sexual, reproductive health

News

Thursday, July 11, 2013

THE National Family Planning Board (NFPB) is urging parents and guardians to educate their children about safe sexual and reproductive health (SRH) practices, in an effort to effectively tackle adolescent pregnancy.The advice comes as Jamaica joins the rest of the world in observing today World Population Day 2013 under the theme: ‘Adolescent Pregnancy.’The observance will focus on re-integrating school-aged mothers into the formal education system will form part of a continuous effort to provide age appropriate sexual and reproductive health information and services to adolescents and young people, in order to help them make informed decisions.Accorind to the NFPB, the more educated people are about their reproductive health, the better prepared they are to make wise choices.“We want young people to be able to achieve their full potential,” says Racquel Reece, communications officer/writer at the NFPB.Reece says ill-timed pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections can have a detrimental impact on the ability of adolescents to achieve their goals.She says the NFPB is especially concerned about adolescents, as maternal mortality rates are usually higher in that age group. This is because adolescents are less likely to make use of antenatal health care services, and are more likely to suffer from complications during labour.They are also more likely to have premature babies and children with low birth weight, and are at risk of educational failure, and emotional disturbances.

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Parents urged to teach children about safe sexual, reproductive health

Erasmus Mundus scholarship recipients urged to use skills to build Ja

SIX Jamaicans who will be leaving the island for advanced studies in Europe have been urged to return and contribute their newfound knowledge and skills to the country’s development.

The appeal came from Education Minister Ronald Thwaites as he addressed a farewell function for awardees under the European Union’s (EU) Erasmus Mundus programme, held recently at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston.“This programme opens the broader federalist character of Europe to each of you… the fear is that you will be beguiled by the European culture and not want to return, but truly, what we need is the breadth of vision and experience you will garner to add to the expertise and knowledge needed for the further growth and development of this country,” he said.The six scholarship awardees are Kadian Davis, who will be pursuing a doctorate in interactive cognitive environment (ICE) at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands; Allison Pearce, master of science (MSc) degree in ecohydrology at the University of Lodz in Poland; Shaneil Stewart, master of arts (MA) in Advanced Development in Social Work at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom (UK); Chantelle Ferron, MA in the learning and teaching of Spanish in multilingual contexts, at the Universidad de Deusto in Spain; Marshalee Jones, European master in social work with families and children, University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal; and Jason Holness, MSc in Global Political Studies, Malmo University in Sweden.The awards cover allowances, tuition, registration and insurance costs for the duration of study and take effect between August and September this year.This is the highest number of awardees under the EU’s scholarship programme since 2004 when it was expanded to include graduate students outside of Europe.Davis, who is an accomplished technology expert, is hoping to use the training to further build the local information communication technology (ICT) sector, which the Government is pushing as a critical growth area.Her three-year course will focus on research related to computer science, electronic and telecommunication engineering and industrial design.It aims at developing and enhancing knowledge and skills in order to shape a new generation of professionals able to exploit and enhance cutting-edge ICT technologies to design and implement, in multi-disciplinary work teams, innovative solutions in the ever more pervasive fields of application.“I chose this field because it facilitates multi-disciplinary designs involving users in the design process of software,” Davis tells JIS News.The tech whizz is the head of the IT Department at the University College of the Caribbean (UCC). She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the University of the West Indies (UWI).In addition to devising strategic plans for IT at UCC and designing programmes for the ICT curricula, she serves as a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the DiploFoundation. She has also received fellowships from global organisations, such as ICANN and the American Registry for Internet Numbers to pursue Internet governance courses.Aspects of her postgraduate thesis have been published in international journals and she has made presentations in India and in the United States.Davis has also offered recommendations to the changes in the Cyber Security Act and is currently the UCC representative to the Cyber Emergency Response Unit of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining.Prior to joining UCC in 2011, Davis worked as a teaching assistant for the Department of Computing at UWI for over four years.Before taking up her scholarship, Davis says she will be attending an Internet Governance Conference in early July in South Africa, being organised by ICANN, which will focus on security and crime on the Internet and other matters.“Jamaica has an important role to play and will benefit from this conference,” she says, adding that the knowledge gained is usually passed on to students and at local IT conferences.She urged Jamaicans to pursue IT courses, especially in cyber security and Internet governance.Spanish teacher Ferron, who will be pursuing a 23-month course in Spain, is grateful for the opportunity to sharpen her skills in the language she loves, and to contribute to the promotion of Spanish as a second language.She told JIS News that Spanish has been her passion since she was 10 years old.“I have been striving to be a great speaker of the language as well as sharing my knowledge of the language with others,” she said.Ferron holds a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish with a minor in international relations from UWI. In 2010, she completed a postgraduate diploma in modern language education with distinction. She has a diploma in methodologies for the teaching of Spanish as a second language from the Metropolitan University of Education Sciences in Chile.She also worked as a tutor in Colombia for a year as part of the collaborative programme between the UWI and the Colombian Government.A teacher at the Immaculate Conception High School, St Andrew, for some seven years, Ferron said that the institution has been using interactive teaching strategies and technology to get children to understand the language.“We also ensure that we provide a cultural context for everything, so during our lessons we always have to speak something from within a Spanish-speaking country to link it to the particular area that we are teaching,” she told JIS News.Noting the importance of learning a second language, Ferron says it allows persons to appreciate other cultures and to widen their horizons. She says it is important for Jamaicans to learn Spanish given the island’s proximity to other Spanish speaking countries.“It is a must as it relates to relationships, trading, and business. The Spanish language is going to be a factor for us as Jamaicans and therefore, it is important that we do learn it,” she emphasises.Head of the Delegation of the EU in Jamaica, Ambassador Paola Amadei, says there was no limit on the number of recipients who can be awarded each year under the Erasmus Mundus programme.She said that the six awardees this year, bring to 19 the total number of beneficiaries under the programme from Jamaica since 2004.“It is my hope that in the 2014 cycle there will be an even larger cohort of scholars from Jamaica and we hope, for our part at the delegation of the EU in Jamaica, to partner with stakeholders in education to bring greater awareness of the opportunities that exist through the Erasmus Mundus,” she said.The scholarship programme has the objective of assisting individual students, tertiary institutions and organisations active in the field of higher education.For students, it promotes accessibility to Europe’s top universities and helps improve the career prospects of students by enabling them to study at top-class institutions. The programme also helps to promote intercultural understanding.Scholarship awardees under the European Union’s (EU) Erasmus Mundus programme for 2013. They are (from left) Jason Holness, Marshalee Jones, Chanelle Ferron, Shaniel Stewart, Kadian Davis, and Allison Pearce.Kadian Davis, who will be pursuing a Doctorate in interactive cognitive environment at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, speaking at a conference at the University College of the Caribbean, where she heads the information technology department.

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Erasmus Mundus scholarship recipients urged to use skills to build Ja