A HIGHER NUMBER of Barbadian men, more so than women, are being affected by the HIV epidemic and Minister of Social Care, Steve Blackett is calling for closer links to be forged with them.
This he said would help to empower them to adopt healthy lifestyle practices and to make sexual decisions from an informed position.
“As we seek to empower men, we need strategic partners and the church plays a critical function as the whole man cannot be established without spiritual guidance.
“A number of our men have not achieved that spiritual maturity that would enable them to become the spiritual beings that they were created to be.
“Every man and woman if they are to become a vessel of honour must be provided with those characteristics that will develop their character,” Blackett said.
Addressing the Christian Union Church of the Caribbean Global: Caribbean Men and Women joint opening reception at the Dining Club on Friday night, the minister congratulated the group for their efforts to seek to empower men through various avenues so as to ensure that no one is left behind as well by providing men with those biblical principles that are necessary for the development of model citizens.
Blackett added: “The mind of men needs to be redirected. By your presence here and given the theme of this conference, it is a surety that you mean to empower them to realise their true potential.
“While we are responsible to God for our actions, He wants us to recognise that we owe each other a duty of care. Targeting men and providing them with this knowledge will assist with their empowerment as gender empowerment is associated with access to information and technology. My prayer for you is that when this conference is ended that the ideas emanating from it will bring closure to the crisis in which men have found themselves and women will see themselves and be seen as vessels of honour.”
(SDB Media)