The WBF Task Force on Gender Equity (GE-TF) is currently organizing a series of four thematic webinars on priority issues for women workers in the banana industry. 

The first webinar on the healthy and safe employment of women workers will be taking place on Thursday, 23 July 2020 from 16:00 – 18:00 CEST. Among the topics to be discussed are the new ‘Guidelines for the healthy and safe employment of women in the Ghanaian banana industry’ - produced under the framework of the WBF Banana Occupational Health and Safety Initiative (BOHESI) - and their adaption for other countries and regions. 

The agenda for the event can be found below:

WEBINAR: The healthy and safe employment of women workers in the banana industry

16:00 – 16:05: Welcome by the WBF Secretariat, Camila Reinhardt Hurtado

16:05 – 16:15: Introduction by the Chairperson, Anna Cooper, Banana Link 

16:15 – 16:45: Presentations from Expert Panelists 

• Susan Murray, Consultant for IUF and UNITE:

Introduction to the main OHS issues and prevention and control measures outlined in BOHESI gender guidelines for Ghana 

• Abena Amponsah Awuah, Assistant Manager for Certifications and Gender Officer, Golden Exotics Limited:

Experiences from the field / delivery of OHS training on women’s issues using the BOHESI guidelines 

• Adela Torres, General Secretary of SINTRAINAGRO, an affiliate of COLSIBA: 

OHS issues for women in Latin America and next steps to adapt the guidelines and training to the Latin American region 

16:45 – 17:00: Q&A

17:00 – 17:10: Break 

17:10 – 18:00: Discussions

• Sharing of information on related initiatives from other stakeholders and countries
• Exchanging ideas and opportunities to put the BOHESI guidelines into practice, develop related training programmes at plantation and farm level and address key OHS issues, including closing the gender data gap on OHS issues for women 
• Explore ideas on how the new BOHESI gender guidelines can be adapted for other countries (and potentially other sectors) 
• Conclusions and next steps for the GE-TF and WBF on OHS issues for women 

For further information on the GE-TF webinar series, contact Camila Reinhardt (FAO) at [email protected] or Anna Cooper (Banana Link) at [email protected].