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| UCLA Law delegation with Terry Ince and Hazel Brown, NNTTAW founder |
The Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women (NNTTAW) is a comprehensive national umbrella organization formed in 1985; it is an advocate and support system for women's organizations in Trinidad and Tobago and shares membership with many regional and international networks of women.
During out time at NNTTAW, we worked on several projects that NNTTAW was currently working on. These projects were:
During out time at NNTTAW, we worked on several projects that NNTTAW was currently working on. These projects were:
- The Juvenile Justice for Girls Project
- Becoming a Woman
- User and Occupancy Agreement and By-laws
The Juvenile Justice for Girls Project
Currently, there is no facility for girls who find themselves in trouble
with the law in Trinidad. Girls are sent either to St. Jude's Home for
Girls, which is not adequately equipped to deal with this vulnerable population
as it is an orphanage, or to the women's jail! Not only is this a blatant
violation of international human rights law, it is against their own
constitution.
There are currently 13 misplaced girls, one of whom is 17 and pregnant. Their alleged crimes range from theft to armed robbery with the most egregious of the allegations being murder. Because the ultimate goal is to rehabilitate these children so they can get back on track to living out their childhood, the women's prison is not suitable for attaining this goal.
The UCLA Law Delegation drafted a memo detailing the constitutional, legislative, and international rights of the girls who are detained to help frame the advocacy next steps of our partner organization. The UNDP and USAID is in the process of doing an assessment with the Children's Authority of what the girls' needs actually are, and hope to have a facility built by the end of next year.
There are currently 13 misplaced girls, one of whom is 17 and pregnant. Their alleged crimes range from theft to armed robbery with the most egregious of the allegations being murder. Because the ultimate goal is to rehabilitate these children so they can get back on track to living out their childhood, the women's prison is not suitable for attaining this goal.
The UCLA Law Delegation drafted a memo detailing the constitutional, legislative, and international rights of the girls who are detained to help frame the advocacy next steps of our partner organization. The UNDP and USAID is in the process of doing an assessment with the Children's Authority of what the girls' needs actually are, and hope to have a facility built by the end of next year.
Becoming a Woman
The purpose of the "Becoming a Woman" program is to reduce the influence of social norms that perpetuate the social and economic an exclusion of girls and young women. The "Becoming a Woman" program is meant to create a place where young women and girls can develop into citizens safe from sexual and physical violence and burden of unwanted pregnancies.
The program is looking to reach 600 girls between the ages of 10-25. The girls will benefit from sex and sexuality and physical security modules incorporated into sports and physical activity sessions; a financial empowerment and literacy module and a life and job skills module.
The UCLA Law Delegation worked to create a model for the program based off of the Girl Power Initiative (GPI), started in Nigeria in 1993. GPI has very similar goals to the "Becoming a Woman" program. The UCLA Law Delegation also worked to identify some locations that might serve as safe recreational spaces. We also provided NNTTAW with a list of suggestions that could potentially help them move forward with the program.
User and Occupancy Agreement and By-laws
The purpose of the "Becoming a Woman" program is to reduce the influence of social norms that perpetuate the social and economic an exclusion of girls and young women. The "Becoming a Woman" program is meant to create a place where young women and girls can develop into citizens safe from sexual and physical violence and burden of unwanted pregnancies.
The program is looking to reach 600 girls between the ages of 10-25. The girls will benefit from sex and sexuality and physical security modules incorporated into sports and physical activity sessions; a financial empowerment and literacy module and a life and job skills module.
The UCLA Law Delegation worked to create a model for the program based off of the Girl Power Initiative (GPI), started in Nigeria in 1993. GPI has very similar goals to the "Becoming a Woman" program. The UCLA Law Delegation also worked to identify some locations that might serve as safe recreational spaces. We also provided NNTTAW with a list of suggestions that could potentially help them move forward with the program.
User and Occupancy Agreement and By-laws
The UCLA Law Delegation worked on leasing agreement for the NGO, and amended their current bylaws. The network's Board of Directors previously had no fiduciary duties written into their bylaws and instead were choosing to advance the interest of themselves as individuals by offering contract agreements to family members and friends instead of true (non-interested) third parties. This affected the power structure within the board of directors which then negatively affected the terms of the leasing agreement that the NGO was subject to, due to poor decision making by the board.
However, The UCLA Law Delegation was able to amend the current framework to incorporate fiduciary duties, such as a duty of loyalty, so that the needs of the NGO are met and prioritized. The voting on the new bylaws will take place at the end of April and we are so excited to hear back from Hazel Brown and the NGO about when the new changes will take effect!
Hard at work!!!
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