This St. Kitts and Nevis Country Gender Assessment (CGA), commissioned by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), provides a gender analysis of the economic, social and governance sectors in St Kitts and Nevis (SKN). The pursuit and achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment is one of the two cross cutting themes in the current results-based management framework of the CDB. The CGA of St. Kitts and Nevis reflects a commitment to a dynamic engagement between the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis (GOSKN) and CDB around how to achieve this goal by deepening and strengthening policies and strategies to transform gender relations in the country. 

The CGA first examines the policy and institutional framework for the promotion of gender equality in an effort to probe the effect and impact of policy on development in the specific context of SKN. The aim has been to seek an answer to the question of whether good policies are enough to achieve gender equality. The research firmly established that over the years, the country has passed a number of laws and implemented important measures towards advancing the human rights of women and girls alongside those of men and boys. However, despite these measures, the CGA found that the answer is ‘no’ to the question of whether good policies and strategies were enough to achieve gender equality and equity. This is so for a number of reasons: first, the broad context and specific conditions within which the policies and strategies operate are key determinants of success.