The present Women’s Empowerment Initiative Guide has been produced by the Institute for Gender and Development Studies Regional Coordinating Office of The University of the West Indies, in collaboration with UNDP under the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme in the Caribbean. A tactical tool, the Guide is designed to provide the staff of Women’s Bureaux (WBs) and their partners across the Caribbean with basic instructions regarding the design and implementation of Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiatives (WEEIs) as one means in particular of addressing the entrenched problem of violence against women and girls in the region. The Guide is intended to place its users in a stronger position to respond to the needs of the region’s women and the challenges posed by violence against women and girls (VAWG).

The Guide comprises four modules:
• Chapter 1: The impact of gender norms, prescriptions and intimate partner violence on women’s economic empowerment
• Chapter 2: Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiatives
• Chapter 3: The role of Gender Bureaux and gender focal points
• Chapter 4: Best practices in women’s economic empowerment