Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, Wednesday met with Country Representative of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Suleiman Bramioh, to discuss ways in which the two entities, via their mandates, can develop a more substantial level of partnership. In a brief statement to the media, Minister Rohee said that UNICEF has been cooperating at the level of the Caribbean Community, as well as the national level, particularly with the Ministries of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, and Foreign Affairs.

So far, the Home Affairs Ministry’s only engagement with UNICEF deals with the General Register Office (GRO), which is responsible for the registration of births, deaths and marriages.
“I think that we should seek to raise this level of cooperation much higher than it presently obtains, and I believe that there are good prospects for these two entities,” Minister Rohee said.
Bramioh said that emphasis on sustainable development issues will be high on the agenda as it is a common area of interest between the two entities. He noted that UNICEF will be working with the Ministry to move forward in this regard.
Bramioh added that UNICEF has a mandate and a programme of cooperation with the Government of Guyana, with particular focus on women and children.
The meeting was initiated out of discussions between Minister Rohee and Bramioh at the recent public forum on Violence in Schools, organised by the Ministry of Education.
Government and UNICEF’s Country programmes and annual work plans 2006-2010 are prepared only after wide consultations with key stakeholders and partners, fulfillment and realisation of children’s and women’s rights.