Funding has been provided to seven Island organizations through the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat grant program, says Minister of Community Services and Seniors, and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Valerie E. Docherty.
“As the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, I have seen many successful projects result from the support of the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat grants,” said Minister Docherty. “I look forward to monitoring the upcoming projects of this year’s recipients that I feel will offer invaluable support to Island women and girls.”
The objective of the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat grant is to support organizations that provide direct services and programs for the benefit of women; support projects that enhance awareness, education and social action on women’s legal, health, social and economic equality; and support the capacity of women’s organizations that promote women’s equality through advocacy, research and policy development.
This year’s grant focus consists of three themes – social media and girls, human trafficking of women and girls, and engaging male and female youth to reduce and prevent gender-based violence.
This year’s Interministerial Women’s Secretariat grant recipients are Cooper Institute, Healthy Eating Alliance Inc., East Prince Women’s Information Centre, Women’s Network Prince Edward Island, Aboriginal Women’s Association, Community Legal Information Association and Open Door Ministries.
For more information, contact Director of Interministerial Women’s Secretariat Michelle Harris-Genge at 368-5557.
Backgrounder
Grant recipients:
• Cooper Institute received $5,000 to develop interactive community workshops with workers and women’s organizations to build knowledge of the issues facing female temporary foreign workers in Prince Edward Island and across Canada.
• The Healthy Eating Alliance Inc. received $5,000 to develop a social networking website targeted to girls in an effort to create an open dialogue for discussion around healthy eating and healthy body image.
• East Prince Women’s Information Centre received $15,000 to offer training sessions for girls in grades seven to nine that will provide skills, tools and support to protect themselves from online predators and bullying, as well as how to manage their online presence while protecting their online identity.
• Women’s Network P.E.I. received $15,000 to co-ordinate, deliver and evaluate pilot programming to schools and community organizations in Prince Edward Island that will engage boys in the development of healthy masculinities.
• Aboriginal Women’s Association received $15,000 to deliver provincial workshops designed for Aboriginal youth that will address gender-based violence and lateral violence.
• Community Legal Information Association received $10,000 to develop a peer-to-peer training toolkit for youth. Youth will learn about the age of consent in Canada, sexual exploitation laws and other legal issues related to social media.
• Open Door Ministries received $7,000 to develop and deliver programming to incarcerated women in Prince Edward Island.