THE government will be allocating more resources for their training and expansion of activities of economic benefit as part of a continuous move to further enhance the standard of living for single parents. Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh gave this assurance in his Budget Speech last Friday, as he spoke of improving the social sector.
Subseqently, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Jennifer Webster said more single parents will be beneficiaries of the Women of Worth (WOW) programme that was launched by the Administration, in 2010, to better the situations of single parents.
The scheme provides the opportunity for single parents to make significant contributions to economic development by having access to loans, raging from $100,000 to $250,000, for establishing or expanding businesses.
The minister said the increasing interest in the project has resulted in the expanding of its significance and purpose.
It will be meeting the needs of over 4,000 single parents nationwide, including those in Regions 1 (Barima/Waini) and 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), she said.
This newspaper has learnt that the other Administrative Regions have already been accessing the WOW benefits, through the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) social network.
The WOW Department in the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, as of December 2011, had approved 1,160 loans amounting to in excess of $224M, since its inception in 2010.
In addition to the loans, the WOW will be providing training to 2,000 women, this year, in areas such as basic accounting, self-improvement and small business management.
These forms of training are being offered mainly to improve the women’s capabilities and to afford them the opportunities to be able to source markets for their production.
The WOW is a collaborative initiative between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI).