Update on the United Nations Joint Programme-Building Back Equal through Innovative Financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Mr. Speaker,

This morning I rise to provide this Honourable House with an update on the United Nations Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund Programme: “Building Back Equal through Innovative Financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” also referred to as the Building Back Equal Project led by UN Women in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This joint programme was officially launched in Bermuda on June 27th, 2022, and recently extended until October 2024.

Mr. Speaker,

I take this opportunity to remind my Honourable colleagues that the joint programme - the Building Back Equal Project - aims to diversify Bermuda’s economy by supporting the growth of new opportunities for empowering women, our youth and persons with disabilities to engage in key economic sectors, such as agriculture; cultural and creative industries; micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs); and sustainable tourism. The joint programme also aligns with the Government’s national priorities and its commitment to ensuring the advancement of gender affairs. The joint programme encourages productive engagement for the growth of new opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and cultural industries.

Mr. Speaker,

In February 2024, representatives from UN Women Caribbean and UNDP Multi- Country Office in Jamaica made their second mission trip this year to Bermuda to advance the Build Back Equal Project. The first mission trip was in October 2023.

Mr. Speaker,

As part of the terms of reference for the joint programme, feasibility studies were to be undertaken on the business landscape of women, youth and persons with disabilities entrepreneurs. This is what the second mission trip in February this year focused on, in addition to introducing a potential accelerator programme to the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation for Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs).

Mr. Speaker,

You may recall that in 2022, I informed this Honourable House that UN Women was seeking to hire consultants as researchers for the Building Back Equal Project. Also in March 2023, I shared that another consultancy position was advertised by UN Women for a consultant to be hired and based in Bermuda to support the activities of the joint programme. At that time, the Ministry issued a press release to encourage Bermudians to apply for this job opportunity to work for UN Women within the framework of the joint programme.

Mr. Speaker,

I am proud to announce that Bermudian Mrs. Clesia Pachai was hired by UN Women as the Bermuda-based Consultant. Mrs. Pachai is an accredited Climate Change Professional who has twelve years of experience working at HSBC Bermuda, leading the bank's Corporate, Social Responsibility and Sustainability function. Mrs. Pachai attended The Berkeley Institute and holds a BA in Event Management, a Master of Science in Social Responsibility and Sustainability, and a Green Finance Certification. Mrs. Pachai is also a consultant within Bermuda’s International Business Sector, with a focus on Environment, Social and Governance strategic development and climate risk.

Mrs. Pachai has been contracted by UN Women to provide support for the “Building Back Equal Project” by liaising with various partners of the joint programme such as UN Women, UNDP, other consultants; the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors; Bermuda Economic Development Cooperation and key community stakeholders, to build a framework that fosters economic development focusing on growing and scaling women-owned and led businesses within Bermuda.

Mr. Speaker,

In addition to Mrs. Clesia Pachai, UN Women has contracted three more consultants to advance the Bermuda Building Back Equal programme to the next phase. These consultants each have specialized training, skills and expertise required to conduct the specific feasibility studies and were all on Island in February during the UN Women and UNDP mission trip.

Mr. Speaker,

Let me share a bit about each of the consultants’ expertise and the work they have commenced to progress the Building Back Equal Programme.

Firstly Mr. Speaker,

• Ms. Kizzann Sammy, is a senior development professional. She holds more than twenty years of experience in programme implementation across government, the private sector, and non-profit organizations, located in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. These organizations include Caribbean governments, Global Affairs Canada, the Inter-American Development Bank, CARICOM, the Red Cross Society, the UN Environment Programme and UN Women. Ms. Sammy is highly qualified with a master’s degree in international development and an MBA in Economic Crime and Fraud Management. She divides her time between consultancies in primary health care programmes in Canada and gender lens investing programmes across international projects.

  Ms. Sammy was contracted by UN Women to develop and conduct a Feasibility study on Financing Instruments for Women-owned MSMEs in six

  Caribbean islands and Bermuda; and, to present a report with recommendations, under the SDG fund programme.

• Mr. César Yammal, the second consultant is an experienced international consultant in designing; coordinating; implementing; supervising and evaluating national and regional gender-focused projects, programs, and public policies centered on development and investment in science, technology, innovation, research, higher education, environment, SMEs, business incubation and entrepreneurship, covering both technical and logistical as well as fiduciary aspects. Mr. Yammal holds a doctorate in Chemical Sciences, a master’s in business administration, specializing in Management Consulting and is a Fulbright Scholar. He has field experience working in various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia and Oceania. Mr. Yammal has ten years of experience working at the World Bank and as a consultant for Inter-American Development Bank (DB). 

  Mr. Yammal has been contracted by UN Women to conduct a Needs Assessment on Financial Instruments for Women-owned MSMEs in Bermuda, under the SDG Fund programme.

• Ms. Heather Pinnock, the third consultant is a development professional with formal training in Architecture Urban Design and Project Management, who holds professional certifications as an agile project management SCRUM Master, an EarthCheck Design Accredited Professional and a licensed real estate salesperson. Her experience includes master planning, energy-efficient and net zero buildings, sustainable housing and public spaces. Since 2022, Ms Pinnock has served as a planning advisor to UN Women Caribbean and co- chair of the Commonwealth Women in Planning network. Ms. Pinnock leads her own boutique development company, LUCEA Caribbean, which offers advisory services with a focus on sustainable development, climate resilience and conscious living for tropical regions.

  Ms. Pinnock has been contracted by UN Women to undertake training needs assessment on climate and shock resilient needs of women-owned MSMEs, unemployed women and other marginalized groups in Bermuda.

Mr. Speaker,

A total of nine delegates associated with the joint programme, who represent both the UN Women and the UNDP Multi-Country Office, were on island the week of February 5th 2024. The mission provided an opportunity for delegates to meet with Government Ministers, members of the Public Service Executive, Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, technical officers, banks and business entrepreneurs. The UN Women consultants had a full schedule of activities that included, but were not limited to: 

• meeting with myself and technical officers in the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, including the Office of Ageing and Disability Services; 
• participating in focus group sessions with:
  • youth-owned businesses;
  • women-owned businesses located in the east end of the island;
  • women-owned businesses in the west end of the island;
  • women-owned businesses located in the centre of the island;
  • successful established women-owned businesses and those in the earlier stage of business; and
  • men-owned businesses.
• engaging financial institutions Bermuda Commercial Bank and Clarien Bank;
• meeting with key stakeholders including BEDC, the Human Rights Commission, the Bermuda Business Development Agency, and the Bermuda Tourism Authority;
• consultation with civil society organizations that empower women, youth, and persons with disabilities, inclusive of the Women Resource Centre, Future Leaders Bermuda, and Tomorrow’s Voices; and,
• Site visits across the island to meet women-owned businesses.

Mr. Speaker,

I personally participated in the consultation meeting held with the non-profit organization WeSpeak, which was created for women by women. This meeting allowed me to hear how passionate and dedicated the members of this organization are to helping women find and project their voices; and build confidence and leadership capabilities by developing their presentation and public-speaking skills. WeSpeak empowers women by providing a safe space for women to improve their public speaking skills.

I also sat in on the focus group session with our successful established women- owned businesses. This provided me an opportunity to hear the success stories along with the barriers these women face, and the recommendations they made to potentially close existing gaps to improve the business environment for women- owned MSME’s.

Mr. Speaker,

The purpose of the various forums was for the UN Women consultants to gather information, by listening to entrepreneurs of MSMEs experiences, their concerns and potential solutions to improve the local landscape for MSMEs and how this could be facilitated in practice.

Mr. Speaker,

The question is always asked - What’s Next? Let me say that the site visits held by the UN Women Consultants, the focus group sessions, the individual discussions, meetings with the financial institutions, Government Ministries and Departments and non-profit organizations - all provided feedback that will feed into the assessments being conducted by the UN Women consultants and form part of a national report to provide Bermuda’s current position as a country.

This would allow themes and trends to be identified to create an overall country profile that would support the direction of piloting innovative financing tools for gender equality to enable entrepreneurs who are women, youth, and persons with disabilities to access additional capital, reduce risks and accelerate SDG achievement. These assessments are a first for Bermuda and the Ministry certainly welcomes the national report. The Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors remains committed to sharing this report upon completion. I also look forward to sharing subsequent updates with this Honourable House on the progress of the Building Back Equal joint programme.