A proposal by Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand to establish a Men’s Affairs Bureau within her ministry has received Cabinet’s approval.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon, who made the announcement at a post-Cabinet briefing he hosted yesterday at the Office of the President, said the support by Cabinet was rooted in an awareness that males were associated with significant contributions to social conflict, crime and violence.
The Ministry already has in place two agencies, the Domestic Violence Policy Unit and the Women’s Affairs Bureau (WAB), which have been collating statistics on domestic abuse from the police force and hospitals, and have also been informing focus groups on measures to protect victims of abuse.
The WAB has been in existence since 1981 and is responsible for coordinating national efforts to remove discrimination against women in society, as well as for policy changes and legislative and administrative measures to guarantee women equal opportunities in education, training and employment.
Following a series of violent /fatal acts against women, Minister Manickchand had observed that “some men seem to be waging war on women who, overwhelmingly, have been the victims of domestic violence,” and questioned, “when will it end”.
Even President Jagdeo in an address at the Indian Arrival Committee’s Mela  in May last year expressed concern over the number of cases of domestic violence and called for women to be “revered in the family and society.”
In January, the national Men Empowerment Network (MEN) organised a national Leadership Summit,  the first-ever to be held in Guyana and the Caribbean.
The forum in observance of Men’s Week was held at the National Cultural Centre.