Panos Caribbean

HOW THE HAITIAN MEDIA VIEW THE LGBT COMMUNITY: A NEW STUDY BY LINKAGES AND PANOS CARIBBEAN

DOWNLOAD LA PROBLÉMATIQUE DE LA COMMUNAUTÉ LGBT EN HAÏTI À TRAVERS LE PRISME DES MÉDIAS (FRENCH - PDF - 2,81MB)

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 10 October 2017 - A new study by the LINKAGES project and Panos Caribbean highlights the past, current and potential role of the media in promoting equity and social justice in Haiti, looking at the coverage of issues affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Access to health is a fundamental human right, but a large proportion of the Haitian population does not have access to essential care. For the LGBT community the situation is much worse than for the rest of the population, because of discrimination, prejudice and victimisation, and the situation is even worse for people living with HIV, with recent studies having revealed that a gay man is 24 times more likely to be infected by the HIV than others are. Yet there is no public policy in Haiti that considers this reality and seeks to provide essential health care to this segment of the population.

According to Steeve Laguerre, the LINKAGES country representative for Haiti, “one of the goals of this report is to have an Haiti in which the human rights of LGBT persons are respected and they are able to live with dignity, free from discrimination, persecution, and violence. No one should be punished”, says Laguerre, “for who they are or who they love. LGBT rights are basic human rights; an LGBT person should have access to all services offered by the Haitian Government. LGBT persons are an integral part of every society and they are our colleagues, neighbours, friends, and family members, each and every Haitian citizen should be recognised and equally valued.”

PANOS CARIBBEAN AMONG PARTICIPANTS IN CLIMATE INFORMATION SERVICE COURSE IN CHINA

Representatives from Jamaica at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology. From left: Kahuina Miller of the Caribbean Maritime Institute; Alicia Sutherland of the Jamaica Observer and Wesley Burger of the RJR Communications Group, with Petre Williams-Raynor, Country Director for Panos Caribbean - Jamaica and Patricia Williams-Bignall, a human resources professional turned writer.

Panos Caribbean is among the more than 30 representatives from organisations across the developing world, gathered in China this month for a training programme to boost their knowledge of climate information services.

The “Climate Change and Climate Information Service for Developing Countries” seminar got going on May 5 at Nanjing University for Information Science and Technology (NUIST), and will run until May 25.

“There is no question of the value of being a participant here. Climate change education and advocacy around climate justice forms a part of the core of what we do at Panos Caribbean,” said Petre Williams-Raynor, Country Director for Panos Jamaica.

“Only a week into the course and already my knowledge of climate change has increased. Also, my appreciation for the rigour of the research that goes into arming us with the needed information to inform our projects and, ultimately, empower our beneficiaries in the region has been significantly enhanced,” she added.

Cockpit Country Indecision?

The years-long wait goes on for a decision on a boundary for the Cockpit Country one of the few remaining forest-cover gems in Jamaica, an area rich in biological diversity and one seen as invaluable to the island's freshwater security.

"I understand that there was a protracted negotiation between the various government entities and a compromise position was reached, and that recently there has been an attempt to make that compromise position much smaller," revealed Diana McCaulay, chief executive officer for the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET).