As Saint Lucians welcomed the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill on International Women’s Day, CIBC FirstCaribbean chose to commemorate both the worldwide observance and the landmark bill with a gesture of solidarity and support to the victims of domestic violence in Saint Lucia.
On March 8th a team from the bank paid a courtesy call on the Women’s Support Centre primarily to reiterate the bank’s support for the work of the agency and for its clients. Bank executives also presented the centre with a cheque for $1500.00, as a tangible expression of their solidarity. The funds go towards the needs of ten of the Centre’s most affected clients.
Now in its nineteenth year of operation, the Women’s Support Centre is a nonprofit organization which provides support to victims of domestic violence and their children by way of temporary shelter, counseling and practical support assistance in obtaining employment and alternative housing. The centre falls under the purview of the Ministry of Gender Relations.
In accepting the cheque, Manager of the centre Ms. Sylvie Edward spoke about the added strain brought on by both the Centre and its clients by the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgency of the need. “Our clients’ needs are urgent and range from building materials, funds for rental support, as well as food items. Our priority and focus is to ensure that our clients and their children are in a safe or indeed, a safer environment and this cheque will help us make that possible.”
Noting the added significance of the timing of the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill to this year’s commemoration of International Women’s Day in Saint Lucia, the bank’s Country Manager Nigel Ollivierre said “The bank sees itself as both a partner in development and a social partner. In development terms the bill is a major step forward for a country that is striving for social justice and gender equity”. Mr. Ollivierre added that as a social partner the bank “opted to commemorate this landmark step by aligning our own corporate social responsibility programme with a tangible show of solidarity to another social partner that is working in the trenches every day to alleviate the impacts of domestic violence on affected parents and children.”
