Prime Minister Bruce Golding has registered to be among some 500 men who are expected to participate in the inaugural national interdenominational men's conference titled 'COVENANT - Jamaica's Men on a Mission'.

The conference will take place at the Mona Visitors' Lodge and the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on February 15 and 16, according to a release from the Ministry of Information.

Golding has been invited to deliver a message on Day two of the all-day session at the Jamaica Conference Centre, starting at 8:30 a.m.

Representatives of the planning committee, led by Chairman Courtney Campbell, met with the Prime Minister on Tuesday to discuss the focus of the conference. Campbell said the conference is aimed at calling Jamaican men to action to assume an appropriate leadership role in society, within the home, workplace, church and community. The conference has targeted men 18 years and over, from communities and various organisations across the island, and it will be free of charge.

Effective follow-up programme

The prime minister has urged the committee to ensure that an effective mobilisation and follow-up programme is put in place to attract the participation of men who need the intervention. He suggested that the committee also considers a special programme to help focus and mentor boys in high schools.

The 'COVENANT: Jamaica's Men on a Mission' conference will be addressed by an impressive list of guest speakers from Jamaica and Canada, including Canada's former Member of Parliament in the Province of Ontario who is also a Jamaican, Dr Alvin Curling, and Bishop Lennox Walker, another Jamaican who heads the Praise Cathedral Worship Centre in Toronto, Canada.