 The Gender Relations Unit has been leasing closely with the gender focal point of the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Chairperson of the Stress Committee, activated by Nemo, to ensure that St. Lucia adopts a gender-sensitive response to COVID-19. Global Affairs Canada, one of the funders of the recently launched Engender project, has informed of its willingness to reprogram US$100,000 to support St. Lucia's COVID response efforts. The use of these funds has been prioritized by the National Staring Committee as follows. One, provision of income support to two groups of women, women who are the head of the households and have lost their jobs in the informal sector, and women farmers and agro-processors whose livelihoods have been adversely impacted. That first sector will account for 80% of the funding received. The balance of 20% will be allocated to the provision of personal protective equipment PPE for frontline workers. This group of persons will also benefit from training in psychological first aid and skills. International agencies such as UN Women and UNFPA have reached out directly to the Regional Gender Bureau heads to pledge their support and share resources for governments to improve their response to COVID-19 in the context of gender equality and response to gender-based violence. Regional meetings with the ministers and directors of gender are being convened regularly to share best experiences, offer guidance and identify opportunities and resources for the country-based responses to COVID-19. Both agencies have pledged support to St. Lucia by contributing to an improved communications focus on gender-based violence. This would the intention to increase public sensitization at a time when research has shown that situations such as what we are experiencing now with the corona pandemic can result in an increase in incidents of domestic violence. The UN Women, which continues to work very closely with us here in St. Lucia, has pledged to provide increased psychosocial expertise for victims of intimate partner violence. The work of the Women's Support Center continues. 202, which is the 24-hour hotline, is operational. One significant improvement to the service will be the provision of direct counseling services using a virtual platform. The response protocols for crises involving intimate partner violence have been changed slightly. The Royal Sanctuary Police Force is activated directly in response to crisis situations. The Gender Relations Unit and the Royal Sanctuary Police Force are monitoring the crisis calls for gender-based violence for any change in frequency and are ready to make adjustments to the protocols for response as needed in this crisis. The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations and our partners are working expeditiously to ensure that there is access to information on gender-based violence in mainstream and social media. Please do peruse our social media platforms and should you feel at all that your life is in danger, call 202, our 24-hour hotline. Thank you for listening.