CUSO International yesterday launched VOICE, a multimillion-dollar project designed to
improve the economic and social well-being of poor and marginalised communities within 22
countries across the world. The Guyana leg of the project, dubbed ‘Volunteers for International Cooperation and
Empowerment’ (VOICE), was launched at the Cara Lodge Hotel in Georgetown by Canadian
High Commissioner Pierre Giroux.

“Worldwide, organisations like CUSO play an important role in the delivery of Canada’s
development assistance, and in the achievement of its results,” Commissioner Giroux said
in delivering remarks during the launch.
He said that, since 1965, the Government of Canada has been providing support for CUSO’s
development work. He said that, with assistance from the Canadian Government, CUSO
International, through this new initiative, will improve the economic and social well-being
of poor and marginalised communities by increasing the capacity of country partners to
deliver sustainable development results in response to local needs.
“As volunteers, you bring a human face to, and play an important role at, the interface of
the Government of Canada’s development assistance to Guyana. You bring valuable experience,
expertise, skill and perspectives to local partner organisations –indigenous community
groups like Kanuku Mountains Community Representative Group, Wowetta Village and Moco Moco
Village -— and towards unlocking organisation potential and advancing their development
agenda in improving the lives of Guyanese,” he posited.
ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
He also said that CUSO International’s VOICE Programme complements Canada’s $600M
development assistance to the Caribbean Region, which works with training institutions
and the private sector to develop training programmes that respond to labour market needs,
and also works with policy makers to create a more enabling environment for private sector
development.
Over the past five years of CUSO International’s presence in Guyana, Guyana’s work has been
guided by the Caribbean Social and Economic Empowerment Strategy, which is aimed at
enabling poor and marginalized families and communities to support their livelihoods and
achieve their rights. These objectives have been achieved through four main focal areas:
secured livelihoods, education, national volunteering, and disability, he said.
CUSO International Caribbean Representative, Tara Persaud, said the project in Guyana will
focus on Inclusive Sustainable Economic Growth (ISEG), with emphasis on employment and
entrepreneurship; and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), with emphasis on Gender-
Based Violence and Teenage Pregnancy. In justifying the thematic areas selected for the
Caribbean Region, particularly Guyana and Jamaica, Persaud explained that 64 per cent of
the region’s population is made up of persons under the age of 30, and many of them are
unemployed. It is estimated that 32 per cent of the region’s young women are unemployed,
while 27 per cent of the young men are jobless.
“Our education system generally does not prepare youths to enter the job market; and even
when youths go through the education system, there is generally a lack of job opportunities
for them to get employment,” she explained.
DISCONNECT
She added that there is also disconnect between the training being offered and the needs of
the job market. Access to finance is another issue of concern. “Access to finance is a
challenge for young people and women. They don’t have collateral; they might not have
credit…. Generally, there is a challenge for them to get access to finance and business
development service…,” she explained.
In executing the various components of the VOICE programme, CUSO International will team
up with Government and non-governmental organisations across Guyana. Under the ISEG
component, CUSO will be working on vocational training, hand-in-hand with the Education
Ministry’s Department of Youth. “We will be looking at curriculum design, curriculum
retooling, but also strengthening vocational training in general.”
CUSO International will also be working with the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (GCCI), Youth Challenge Guyana, the Volunteer Youth Corps, the Linden Technical
Institute (LTI), the Guyana Gold Field, and representatives from the Kanuku Mountain
community.
The Women Agro Processors Network (WAPN) and Women Across Differences (WAD) are among
organisations that will work with CUSO in fulfilling its objectives under the GESI
component.
VOICE, a multi-region, multi-country programme, will be implemented within the next five
years (2015-2020).
Having commenced in April 2015, the Cdn$104M project has been taking shape in countries in
East and West Africa, Asia, Central America, and in the Caribbean Region. Globally, there
are four thematic areas in the VOICE Project: ISEG, GESI, access to health services, and
public outreach.
“Inclusive Sustainable Economic Growth – under this area we will supporting things like
employment, enterprise, entrepreneurship, small business development; we will also be
supporting natural resource management and food security and climate change adaptation,”
Persaud explained.
Under the GESI component, CUSO International will address key issues that affect men and
women, boys and girls from participating in society and achieving their full human rights.
Human reproduction, child health, mental health, health governance and accountability, and
community health-driven initiatives are among areas that will be addressed under component
three of this programme.
By Svetlana Marshall