… for development in health, economic growth, and democracy and governance
Guyana and the United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), yesterday signed a US$13.1M bilateral agreement to advance development in health, economic growth, and democracy and governance.
And Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh said Guyana will not stop working with development partners, notwithstanding the success the country has made in relation to macro-economic success and “real” development. Singh and USAID Mission Director Ms. Carol Horning signed the agreement in the Ministry of Finance boardroom, Main Street.
The agreement outlines another year of developmental assistance and it is expected that Guyana and USAID will continue collaborations to define specific work programmes and define their budgets.
Of the US$13.1M, US$8.3M has been allocated to health for prevention, treatment, care and support, and health systems strengthening activities. The allocation seeks to strengthen public health systems, as well as to enhance the civil society and private sector response to HIV/AIDS.
For economic growth, US$2.8M was allocated with the aim of increasing participation of Guyanese producers of non-traditional exports in the international marketplace, enhancing private sector competitiveness for export development, and addressing global climate change.
A total of US$2M is set aside for governance and democracy in an effort to improve the democratic processes and governance institutions and systems in Guyana. A portion of these funds is also expected to be expended on the 2011 election with specific focus on education.
The Finance Minister noted that there is much work to be done and for there to be movement on this front, Guyana has to work with partners.
However, he maintained that this is being done while the country’s domestic resources are being mobilized for development.
Singh said the agreement is a “significant” one that represents continued relations based on shared values, democracy and commitment to development.
He pointed out that the value of this collaboration is manifested in the thrust in development programmes, where substantial development support is seen from the United States.
“These programmes have phenomenal development impact,” Singh declared.
Case in point is the development in the private sector, particularly in modernizing the sector and promoting economic diversification.
The Finance Minister highlighted aqua-farming, a sector with “phenomenal potential”, which in Guyana dates back 100 years.
The National Aquaculture Association of Guyana (NAAG), in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and the United States Agency for International Development/ Guyana Trade and Investment Support (USAID/GTIS) project, has been targeting aquaculture as a means of diversifying the future of Guyana’s agricultural economy.
“GTIS has been the principal vehicle through which aquaculture has been mobilized and advanced…linkages have been established and markets have been identified,” he said.
Singh added that the entire development programme is reflective of the objectives of both countries.
He said the support programme is well designed to have significant development impact.
In her remarks, Horning noted that the continued collaboration will provide USAID an opportunity to apply the lesson learnt from past collaborations.
Most importantly, she said it is an opportunity to build on past successes and address the gaps that were identified in 2009.
Past Success
In the area of health, the USAID Mission Director said programmes continue to address HIV/AIDS and wider health issues.
According to her, the support in the health sector covers training; expansion of programmes, in particular the cervical cancer prevention services; advancements within the Health Ministry’s Materials Management Unit (MMU), with the development of a computerized system for requesting, tracking, storing and distributing medical supplies; and the publishing of the ‘Standard Treatment Guidelines for Primary Health Care’, which standardizes the approach to treatment of 60 medical conditions at all primary health care facilities.
Horning pointed out that in the area of economic growth, partnerships were forged and USAID was able to establish strategic, export-focused partnerships with private sector firms in the agriculture sector.
These firms have, in turn, established contract relationships with 30 small producers to whom they provide technical assistance and guarantee the reliable purchase of commodities,” she said.
Horning added that over the last six months, exports from the partner firms have seen a 50 per cent increase in pineapples, melons and butternut squash.
She said, “As a result of the increase in exports and greater consistency in shipments to Caribbean markets, a decrease in air cargo cost was negotiated with Caribbean Airlines.”
Support in the democracy and governance programme, Horning said, saw success in stabilizing the electronic court records system at the High Court to prevent a loss of data.
This system houses over 35,000 records which have been entered since its introduction in 2006.
“Training on sexual and domestic violence protocols, as a result of the new legislation, was provided to the court registry clerks, counsellors and social workers. This will be extended to other justice sector personnel in the future,” she said.
Another area of support, Horning pointed out, was the recent media capacity building undertaking, in collaboration with the Ohio University and University of Guyana.
“These are major accomplishments that we could not have realized without the commitment and involvement of all our partners, public and private, including the different government agencies and ministries,” Horning said.
This agreement between Guyana and the USA is part of a wider programme spanning 2009 to 2013, which will see Guyana accessing US$75M.