Prime Minister Andrew Holness greets Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) Chair Debby-Ann Brown-Salmon during the WCJF’s fund-raising dinner at Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston Saturday night. At left is Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange.

Holness announced at the function that a WCJF facility is to be built in St Thomas and that the centre will be designed and constructed by Factories Corporation of Jamaica, which will also adopt the facility that is expected to have a nursery and dormitory, among other features.

Holness also announced that he and Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke will be facilitating the donation $10 million towards the construction of a WCJF dormitory in Kingston.

The WCJF provides continuing education for girls who have dropped out of school due to pregnancy, and facilitates their reinstatement into the formal school system after giving birth.

More than 50,000 teen mothers have been assisted by the WCJF since its establishment in 1978. The foundation facilitates their continuing education; aids in delaying repeat pregnancies among adolescent mothers through sexual and reproductive health education; and enables their reintegration into the formal school system or placement in another institution of learning.