THE MINISTRY of Social Protection will commence its SPECIAL ‘parent-training’ with the first batch of selected participants this Saturday to help boost the parenting skills of fathers and mothers, Head of the Child Protection Agency CPA), Mrs Ann Greene said. Greene said Saturday’s programme will be held at the Dolphin Secondary School, Broad Street, Charlestown, opposite the CPA’s head office. This training is with a difference, since in addition to the group sessions there will be one-on-one therapy sessions with the participants to assist with personal dysfunctions. This would involve professionals from other service agencies, particularly to assist with mental health screening and income generation activities.
Greene was quick to point out that, contrary to what is commonly believed in Guyana, that since you mention mental health “is madness” in fact it is not so. “A number of families is not enjoying good mental health, meaning that they are experiencing difficulties coping with life stressors and maintaining equilibrium. Consequently, they must be provided with support,” Greene said.
Saturday’s programme will be the first in a series of 3-hour programmes to be held for the next six Saturdays. The MOSP has also built into the initiative a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) component which will “track the participants for one year,” after the final training session, Greene said. The programme is scheduled to be conducted in all the regions.
The M&E of the parents is scheduled to take place every three months. The novelty will be fully funded by the Ministry of Social Protection (MOSP), Greene said.
She said Saturday’s programme is part of a wider MOSP initiative to raise national consciousness about child abuse and its devastation and destruction to the lives of children.
“Child abuse occurs at every stage of a child’s life. Even before birth a child can be mistreated if its mother abuses (narcotic and psychotropic) substances,” Green explained. She said that according to experts, the male sperm can also be affected by (for example) marijuana use and this can also help shape what happens to a child while still in the womb.
As a consequence, the CPA Head said couples will be targeted during the upcoming national awareness programmes in collaboration with maternal clinics. She indicated that the early years of a child’s life is the cornerstone for subsequent development and pleaded with the nation to understand “how child abuse affects children” and do everything possible to prevent abuse from occurring.
“There must be no inactive bystanders,” Greene emphasised. Continuing she said, “We want to remove the notion that child protection is solely a Ministry of Social Protection responsibility.”
She described neglect as also “a serious form of abuse” which affects children physically and psychologically. According to Greene, some of the damage suffered by neglected children may even be irreparable. “We also have to stop domestic violence because children who witness it may result with a damaged psyche. She disagreed that the national plan for more awareness and involvement of the populace will somehow violate people’s individual rights; transforming the nation into ‘nosey’ individuals.
Under the Child Protection Act “all adults have a legal and moral responsibility to report abuse” Green said. According to the CPA Head “when it comes to child abuse we all have to be “nosey parkers”.
According to her, reporting child abuse is not tantamount to ‘snitching’ and according to the local laws everyone is “a mandated reporter.”
The MOSP hopes to achieve a change in attitude nationwide when it comes to child abuse through the forthcoming initiatives.
While Greene’s agency has been on a virtual crusade to save children from abusive environments, it has also faced its fair share of criticisms with the chief allegation being it ruins families by taking away the children.

Greene disagreed
“We are not the bad guys we are the helpers. We provide support to ensure that children are free from harm and abuse and we need co-operation.” Greene pleaded with the CPA’s detractors. She lamented that her agency “does not get cooperation” from many parents. “We don’t come to take away children this is the last resort and even when we do this it is temporary, since the goal is to return children to their natural families and to prevent unnecessary separation,” Green explained.
Consequently, the Ministry will be going all out to network with religious institutions, community groupings, stakeholders and civil society bodies nationwide to be involved as ‘watch dogs’ to help stamp out abuse of Guyanese children.
Green is adamant that males must be empowered if lasting success is to be achieved in helping to stamp out domestic violence in families. She reasoned, that since males are socialised to “mask their emotions…it takes an empowered male to let it go. We have to raise men differently. Men don’t have to get the last word in a disagreement. Emotional development is lacking in men. You don’t have to hurt what you love,” she reminded.
Green said the lack of available role models for young men is another deficiency in the effort of empowering men. The ongoing move to merge the Women’s and Men’s Affairs Bureaus is part of a broader MOSP strategy to achieve parity in empowerment among the genders here, Greene said.

(Ministry of Social Protection)