Fe­male can­di­dates in the up­com­ing lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tions will par­tic­i­pate in a pro­to­col train­ing pro­gramme for women. It takes place to­day at the In­ter­na­tion­al Re­la­tions board­room at the Uni­ver­si­ty of the West In­dies, St Au­gus­tine.

A re­lease from co-or­di­na­tor of the Net­work of NGOs for the Ad­vance­ment of Women, Dr Kris Ram­per­sad, said: "One of the ma­jor is­sues that sur­faced in the re­cent na­tion­al elec­tion and that is like­ly to sur­face in the cur­rent lo­cal cam­paign has been how women im­pact up­on the po­lit­i­cal en­vi­ron­ment and sphere." Ram­per­sad said the work­shop would help sen­si­tise women can­di­dates to is­sues, pre­pare them for po­ten­tial chal­lenges and pro­vide strate­gies on how to avoid and pos­i­tive­ly im­pact on the po­lit­i­cal sphere in which they func­tion.

The pro­gramme will be fa­cil­i­tat­ed by pro­to­col con­sul­tant Lenore Dorset, net­work co-or­di­na­tor Hazel Brown and Ram­per­sad. The pro­gramme is part of the net­work's cam­paign to "en­gen­der" lo­cal gov­ern­ment and in­crease, not just the num­bers, but al­so the qual­i­ty of women can­di­dates in the elec­tions.