Several initiatives enhanced lives of vulnerable groups in 2021

It has been reported that Guyana has experienced a surge in economic development since the
election of the new administration returned to government in August 2020.  The government,
since then, through the Human Services and Social Security Ministry has been working
diligently to empower women, while taking care of the nation’s children, elders and vulnerable
groups.

Empowering Women
Human Services Minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, noted that to promote gender equality and
equity, they implemented a Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN), which
provides skill programmes to women of all ages.  Some 1200 persons were trained in varying
skill sets since the launch of the programme in May, 2021. “We are shattering the gender
stereotypes and moving into the area of different modes of study and work because I understand
what happens when women are deprived of accessing programmes because maybe they drop out
of school. We will also focus on functional literacy. Again, brand new for women,” Dr. Persaud
said. She noted that under the WIIN programme, women can access other services such as:
•  A marketing app and business incubator, conceptualised for female-owned businesses which
serves as a directory to network with other businesses and to promote business opportunities
•  An ‘Empowerment fund’, which serves to provide women with the opportunity to start or fund
their own businesses, creating more female entrepreneurs in the country. Some $130 Million has
already been allocated to women countrywide.
Mitigating Domestic Violence
The minister said that while providing women with the avenues to generate income, the ministry
is vigorously working to mitigate domestic violence and sexual offences in Guyana. As such, a
series of programmes and collaboration were made to spread awareness and tackle this prevalent
issue. Among these programmes are;
 Community Advocates Network (CAN) that places a survivor’s advocate in every
community across the regions to provide support to victims of abuse.
 Legal Pro-bono 500, that aims to provide over 500 victims with free and effective legal
assistance.
 COPSQUAD 2000, which ensures that police officers are being trained to efficiently assist
victims while maintaining accountability and transparency.
Children
The ministry earmarked $892M of its budgetary allocation in 2021, to ensure the protection and
wellbeing of the nation’s children.  “The [$892 million] will go towards human resources, capital

investments to enable us to respond with alacrity to the numerous reports of child abuse,
awareness campaigns, parenting programmes and some other areas,” Minister Persaud said. The
ministry stated that through the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), they also focused on
the adoption of children of all ages and on orphanages countrywide.
Pensioners
60,000 pensioners benefited from the Government initiative which improved the livelihood of
senior citizens by increasing the old age pension from $20,500 to $25,000 per month. The
ministry noted further that they closed off the year with the distribution of the 2022 old age
pension booklets to senior citizens, ensuring a hassle-free upliftment process.
Cash grants
$29.5B was allocated to the ministry to execute its mandate of providing services to the
country’s most vulnerable groups in 2021.
Therefore, in total, government disbursed:
 $8B in COVID-19 cash grant
 $4B in Old Age Pension
 $500M in Public Assistance
 $120M to support people living with disabilities
 $50M to support organisations working with victims of domestic violence
 $2.6B in relief for vulnerable groups including: pensioners, public assistance recipients
and GPL low-kilowatt consumers
Photo Captions:
(Main Pic) Dr. Vindhya Persaud assisting to distribute old age pension and one-off cash
grant
Dr. Vindhya Persaud and Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn with second batch of
COQSQUAD 2000 officers