40 more Vincentian women have benefited from the Women’s Empowerment Programme (WEP) through the Republic of China in Taiwan. The WEP Graduation ceremony for Cosmetology and Sewing Skills Training took place on Friday, January 20th, 2023 at the Kingstown Baptist Church.
Speaking at the ceremony, Director of Adult and Continuing Education, Kathleen Jeffers said in May 2021, both the ROC and the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines realized that there was a need to assist women, particularly in skills training and ultimately, the project was approved in July of that year.
Jeffers explained that the project is divided in three parts, Institutional Enhancement, Technical Vocational Training and Training of Trainers. She commended the participants for finishing the course and called for more stakeholders to come on board as support is always needed.
Taiwan’s Ambassador to St. Vincent and the Grenadines His Excellency Peter Sha-Li-Lan urged the participants to continue in their advancement as “vocational training is a very important part of education”.
The Ambassador promised that the Women’s Empowerment Project will continue and will include new projects to be launched in the future. Ambassador Lan also affirmed his country’s unwavering support for St. Vincent and the Grenadines noting that “Taiwan will always be with you.”
Minister of Education, Hon. Curtis King acknowledged the support given by Taiwan on several other initiatives including scholarships, Support for Education and Training (SET) and Youth Empowerment Service (YES) programmes, WEP and the newly launched ONSITE program as tools to further educate and empower Vincentians. The Minister noted that Taiwan contributed Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,00) with 175 interns employed with the Onsite (Private Sector) program.
To date, three hundred and six (306) participants have completed training from sixteen (16) cohorts.