 Coming to you from RGIS Studios, I am Anisia Antoine and this is your Midday News Brief. The Department of Gender Relations recently conducted a three-day training for public officers from various departments on drafting national reports. Among the reports is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which is submitted every four years by countries that have signed onto the Convention. The report places emphasis on bringing the female half of humanity into the focus on human rights concerns. St Lucia is preparing to submit its seventh to ninth combined report and has been hosting training exercises in preparation of these reports. The second part of a two-part exercise was recently hosted by the Department of Gender Relations through the technical support from Sisters for Change through its Equality and Justice Alliance initiative. Acting Director of the Department of Gender Relations, Cheney Joseph, says the department is hoping that by November 2019, a final draft can be taken to Cabinet for approval to coincide with the start of the 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence from November 25th. The trade programs known collectively as the Caribbean Basin Initiative, CBI, remain important elements of U.S. economic relations with the Caribbean. The CBI is intended to facilitate the development of stable Caribbean economies by providing beneficiary countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for most goods. Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister, the Honourable Allen Shasne, indicated that he has been dialoguing with U.S. congressmen and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on a number of initiatives, including immigration, free borders and security. All of which he explained can be beneficial to the Caribbean. The CBI was launched in 1983 through the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and expanded in 2000 by the U.S. Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, and again by the Trade Act of 2002. The Minister of Education is currently hosting a Miko North Summer School at the Miko Innovation and Career Development Centre. A group of 100 individuals is expected to participate in the program, which will be held over a period of two weeks. The participants will learn new skills in the areas of multimedia design, development of their soft skills and use of programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel. This has been your media news brief. Thank you for watching.