SPECIAL emphasis has been placed in the 2013 National Budget on those sections of the population that are affected by poor socio-economic circumstances, especially single parents; abused women; the elderly; orphans and the homeless, as government continues to focus on ways to further develop the quality of life of these vulnerable groups.

Children
The administration remains committed to ensuring that all children have access to the care they deserve, thus granting them the opportunity to attain the skills and knowledge to become productive citizens.
In 2012, social work interventions focused on parental counselling and education and training in order to prevent unnecessary separation of children from their parents, and the foster care programme was expanded with an additional 46 children being placed in a family setting.
In addition, a new visiting committee was launched to ensure compliance with minimum operational standards in both government-managed care centres and privately managed children’s homes and orphanages
During his budget presentation, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh stated that in order to better cater for the country’s children who have been made vulnerable by inadequate parental care and child abuse, the expanded Mahaica children’s home is set to be opened this year. This will see 100 boys and girls benefiting from the expanded structure.
Moreover, the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) will decentralise its operations with the aim of assigning child care officers and bringing services to all 10 regions. The sum of $234M will be spent in 2013 on child-care and protection services.

Single Parents
Government continues to deliver on its commitment to assist single parents living under difficult circumstances, and to support their efforts to achieve a better quality of life for themselves and their families.
Programmes such as the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), which targeted over 400 single- parent beneficiaries; the WOW micro-credit initiative, which disbursed $16.4M in loans to support  the income-generating activities of 83 single mothers in 2012; and the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI), which continued to provide training to women in various areas.
The WOW initiative will be reinvigorated, and formally launched in Region 1, where approximately 100 applicants have already been identified.
Minister Singh said that in collaboration with the private sector partner, training sessions will be delivered in areas such as basic entrepreneurship, networking, accounting, branding, promotion and advertising, and packaging targeting 200 beneficiaries.
In addition, an additional 400 single parents are expected to benefit from training under the BIT’s Single Parent programme, while the GWLI will be prioritising training in areas of capacity building; basic literacy and numeracy skill;, computer literacy and office procedures; garment manufacturing; catering; cosmetology and sales.

Elderly
Over 42,000 pensioners currently benefit from the provision of a monthly non-contributory old age pension, which is intended to be a partial supplement to help meet their basic needs. In addition, provisions are made to ensure improved quality of care at the Palms geriatric institution, which throughout last year catered for the needs of over 200 elderly persons.
Last year, the National Commission for the Elderly was constituted and commenced discharging its mandate, with the aim of supporting the continued involvement of senior citizens in the economic and community life of our country.
In 2013, a key highlight will be the work of the Commission on ensuring that appropriate standards of care are followed in private homes as well as in government-managed facilities, and that enough trained caregivers are available to safeguard the well-being of the elderly.

Homeless
Over 200 homeless persons continued to benefit from accommodation, meals and medical attention in 2012 at the Night Shelter in East La Penitence.
In 2013, $54M has been provided to complete and operationalise the Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration located at Onverwagt, Region 5, for the benefit of a further 180 homeless persons.