Guyana, Chile sign pact to alleviate poverty

GUYANA and Chile, through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Monday signed on to the ‘Enhancing the economic livelihood of the poor in Guyana Project’ valued at US$200,000 at the Ministry of Tourism. Its history dates back to 1978, when the UN established the Unit for South–South Cooperation and promoted trade and collaboration within its agencies.
But the idea of South–South cooperation only started to influence the field of development in the late 1990s and, due to the geographical spectrum, it is now well known as South America-Africa (ASA) cooperation.
South–South cooperation has been successful in decreasing dependence on the aid programmes of developed countries and creating a shift in the international balance of power, UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Khadija Musa, related at the signing yesterday.

She said the present project was initiated in 2013 and, together the UNDP office and Chile exchanged findings and knowledge and made a decision.
Guyana has moved ahead and met the required needs, but there is still poverty that needs to be addressed. Guyana has fully participated in every step of the way, Musa confirmed.
Acting Minister of Tourism, Mr. Irfaan Ali, speaking at the joint press conference they hosted said: “This project will help to build a new entrepreneurial skill, to enhance our ability to help small businesses. It also seeks to improve livelihood conditions.”
Critical Areas
He said the process will address three critical areas that would complement national development, the first to be looked at is the Eco-Tourism Sector, where US$80,000 would help develop a strategic marketing plan which is community- based. That fund would assist members of the community in training and developing of skills, help to create businesses and access finances.
In capacity building, US$100,000 would be injected in rural poor enterprise, and ten communities will be assisted from this grant, where help will be granted to develop entrepreneurship, helping persons to manage their finances and deliver training.
Lastly, US$20,000 will focus on the economies of starting a small business, assisting persons in training on how to start up and assess the sustainability of that venture, Ali explained.
Guyana, like most developing countries, has been seeking new ways to improve the living standards of its citizens. Positive growth is evident, but a long-term trend analysis reveals that there is still room for improvement as real growth averaged one percent between 1970 and 2005.
The Household Income and Expenditure Survey and Guyana Living Conditions Survey, each showed that the proportion of households living in moderate poverty (on US$2 daily) has declined from 43 percent to 36.3 percent in seven years. Extreme poverty dropped from 28.7 percent to 19.1 percent over the same period and a clear sign that Guyana is on track with the targets identified in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Despite this positive outlook, though, data reveals that for particularly vulnerable groups such as Amerindians, the outlook is less positive.
Seventy-seven percent of Amerindians are classed as poor and they remain the poorest group of citizens in Guyana.
UNDP Guyana supports innovative pilot projects and shares global best practice and resources. It also promotes the role of women in development and brings governments, civil society and external partners together to coordinate efforts to tackle poverty.