The wealth of a nation is its people. The Government of Guyana, cognisant of this has mandated the Ministry of Social Protection and provided it with the necessary funding to ensure that basic social services and assistance are consistently and effectively delivered to all Guyanese, through an equitable approach of ensuring over time that every citizen can access the support they need. The Ministry, as its name suggests aims to ensure that the most vulnerable among us are protected and rescued from difficult circumstances.

The Ministry of Social Protection deals with a plethora of social issues from domestic violence to child abuse to Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and provides critical services to citizens, such as old age pension and public assistance for persons in vulnerable situations. This year the Ministry was allocated $16.6 billion to complete its programme of work geared at improving the lives of Guyanese in the ten administrative regions. Minister of Social of Protection, Ms. Amna Ally said that her ministry will continue to work with partnering agencies and other Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to identify policy oriented goals and the required resources to enhance the development of citizens. Special emphasis, the Minister noted will be placed on children and young people to equip them for the future.

Expanded access to high quality early childhood education was listed as an important investment by the Government of Guyana. Another important aspect of the ministry’s work is the reintegration of persons, who were once part of vulnerable groups into society by providing capacity training, which is done collaboratively with several organisations such as Women Across Differences (WAD) and aligning ministries. In this regard, Minister Ally said that for 2017 her ministry will be focusing its attention on projects that encourage self-sufficiency, making reference to 30 “Shade House” projects which will be rolled out. “Now these programmes are like organisation of groups of people, young people in particular, to look at probably supplying flowers to the flower shop, gainful employment, cultivation of seasoning for homes, hospitals, etc. and we are doing a number of projects in concert with IAST [Institute of Applied Science and Technology] and these will come under the Sustainable Livelihood Programmes,” Minister Ally disclosed.

Childcare and Protection
The Minister of Social Protection has assured that the Government of Guyana will continue to invest in programmes and policies that will seek to empower citizens and create the conditions in which strong cohesive families can blossom, noting that strong families are the building blocks of strong communities, and strong communities the building blocks of a strong nation. She pledged “to support families in parenting, and in imparting core values, the significance of education, and advocacy with Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), communities, and members of the private sector to recognise the importance of maintaining the family unit while promoting a safe, stable and nurturing family environment for all members.”

The Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) is empowered to ensure that all Guyanese children have access to the best care and support aimed at promoting their healthy development, thus enabling them to reach their full potential. This Agency is within the Ministry of Social Protection, and was formally created by an Act of Parliament, the Childcare and Protection Agency Act 2009. Its mission is “to prevent, reduce and alleviate the effects of the abuse and neglect of children by the provision of effective services that their rights entitle them to, in their communities and in their family setting.” Responsibilities of the CPA include but are not limited to, providing psychosocial support and other assistance to vulnerable families, responding to child abuse reports and providing safe places and recovery for victims.

Head of the Agency, Ms. Ann Greene, during an interview with Government in Action on June 12, 2017, said that it is focusing its attention on public awareness to prevent child abuse in the country, given the devastating effects it has on children. Ms. Greene believes strongly that this approach will develop what is described as the “bystander approach” rather than the “bystander effect”. Explaining this concept, she said that with “the bystander effect you just look; playing you didn’t hear, playing you didn’t see, hoping that somebody else would talk about it, hoping that somebody else would fix it and so on and you know you just walk away. But we want the bystanders approach and that is; if you see something you would really have to say something. You’re going to have to do something, so we are pushing the awareness.”

As part of the mass awareness campaign, the CPA is establishing Community Watch Groups in its quest to create a child friendly society, which is serious about stamping out the societal ill of child abuse and neglect. The Head of the Agency expressed confidence that with the involvement of the community and with the religious groups playing a proactive role, children would be better protected. “What we’re going to do, is to decrease those situations which put the child at risk and we’re going to increase the protective factors to protect children, but to do that we want to link the state systems with the community systems, so together we’re going to ensure the safety of children,” she said.

Building the capacity of parents through training programmes conducted by specially trained facilitators, drawn from the communities, is another measure being taken by the Childcare and Protection Agency to ensure the well-being of children all across Guyana. Ms. Green acknowledged that there is no blue print for parenting and many of them need help with raising their children, therefore in keeping with its mandate the agency will endeavour to assist as many parents as it can.

The Agency is working to reduce the number of children held in institutional care and, contrary to the popularly held notion that officials want to remove the children from their families, Ms. Greene said children are not just removed from their homes but from vulnerable situations and placed temporarily in an institution. “Institutions are lifesavers for children but it’s not the best place. The best place for children is a family-life setting… So we want to return as many of the children we have in the institutions to the biological parents if they can and to provide support for their continued well-being,” Ms. Greene said.

In this regard, the CPA has partnered with the NGO, Blossom Incorporated to conduct a case review of all the children in residential care, which totals over 600, to determine how many of them can be returned to the care of their biological parents. Ms. Greene said when a child is removed from the home, the family undergoes counselling and an evaluation to ensure that the child or children can return to their homes in the shortest possible time. Factors such as parental drug and alcohol abuse hinders the process and in some extreme cases the child or children are unable to return to those homes and foster care or guardianship is sought.

She noted that “it’s challenging because some of the vulnerability will take quite a lot of resources to fix and what we have found is that parental substance abuse is a factor that creates vulnerability for children. So it means we have to get that parent into rehabilitation and to sustain it to be able to provide that parenting role.” The CPA is extending its Foster Care Programme and is calling on suitable persons to come forward and foster a child, particularly the older children.

Early Childhood Development also falls under the purview of the CPA and with over 300 day care facilities on record, the agency is working to have all such facilities registered and licensed this year, with emphasis on ensuring conducive environments for the development of children, who are at that very critical stage.

In addition, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Empowerment Programme, which is a collaborative effort with the agency and several NGOs is moving apace and is geared at sensitising teens on the implications of early pregnancy and risky sexual behaviour. The 12-week programme also focuses on Sexual Reproductive Health and the participants, the majority of whom are drawn from the school system, are assessed over a one-year period following the completion of the programme.

Trafficking in Persons
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) is a problem worldwide and Guyana is not exempt from the challenges wrought by the scourge. However, with a Task Force comprising several agencies and the officials of the Countering Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Ministry of Social Protection, there have been more convictions and several persons being saved from the grips of traffickers.

President David Granger speaking on January 18, 2017 at the launch of the National Plan of Action for the Prevention and Response to Trafficking in Persons 2017-2018 said that his Government is committed to reversing the indifference shown by the previous administration towards the incidence of Trafficking in Persons by enhancing education and strengthening enforcement in order to eliminate the scourge entirely.

The Head of State reminded that Guyana is signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Transitional Organised Crime and to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. The National Plan of Action against Human Trafficking, he noted, is the Government of Guyana’s response to the need for the effective enforcement of the laws prohibiting TIP.

“Human trafficking must be confronted fearlessly, frontally and fully. The legal proscript against human trafficking must be backed by a plan of action aimed at eventually eliminating trafficking from our homeland. The previous administration’s efforts to combat trafficking in persons often reflected the notorious indifference of indecisiveness to the crime. The seriousness of the crime was de-emphasised. Few efforts were made to combat trafficking in a systematic way” President Granger said.

The President emphasised that “public education, therefore, is important since human trafficking is usually an underground activity and it seems to be more pronounced in some of the hinterland areas, which are difficult to police simply because the police force does not have the resources.”

TIP is high on the Social Protection Ministry’s agenda and Minister Ally has assured that the Ministry is working relentlessly to stamp out this scourge that has afflicted Guyana. “Since then [launch of National Action Plan] we have had raids, people have been arrested and they have to appear before the Court and so on, but we are very serious with Trafficking in Persons. We believe that it must be stamped out and so we are making every effort to ensure that the programme is very successful,” Minister Ally said. Over $12M is allocated this year to counter TIP and the Government of Guyana has promised that it will continue to invest in the TIP unit.

While, successful prosecutions are important, the cycle of trafficking, Minister Ally noted, cannot be broken without protecting the rights of trafficked persons and introducing effective strategies to tackle the problem.

Meanwhile, Director of Social Services, Mr. Whentworth Tanner, speaking with Government in Action, said that the Countering Trafficking in Persons Unit has been working around the clock to raise awareness and to provide support services to survivors of TIP. He said that “due to the work of not only that department but the Task Force in general, and all the members of the Task Force, they are responsible for Guyana making significant improvements and being taken off the watch list last year and we are hoping that with the work we are continuing to do… we will continue to move in the right direction.”

Domestic violence and sexual offences
Domestic violence and sexual offences are two areas that the Ministry of Social Protection is placing a lot of emphasis on, given the continued reported prevalence in a wide range of communities across the country.

As part of the ministry’s efforts to provide support to victims of domestic violence and sexual crimes, Minister Ally said that plans are afoot to construct a home at Mahaica, East Coast Demerara. With assistance from the Islamic Development Bank some 20 families or one hundred persons who have been in domestic violence and or sexual abuse situations would have a place to find solace, while they get back on their feet. She said too that the Ministry is in the process of sorting out the necessary project documents and the project is anticipated to begin this year and conclude in 2018.

Public awareness and training of relevant stakeholders across various ministries and agencies are two major measures being undertaken by the Social Protection Ministry to tackle domestic violence and sexual offences A National Plan of Action was developed with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and is guided by the Sexual Offences Act of 2010 and the Domestic Violence Act of 1996. During the opening ceremony of the Police Officers’ Training on Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence held in February Minister Ally described it as another step in ensuring that Law Enforcement Officers are equipped with the necessary skills to handle sensitive cases of victims who would have been violated and traumatised by these experiences.

The Director of Social Services said the “Cut it Out” radio programme is part of this campaign to counter the phenomenon. He acknowledged that it is a challenging area for the department. “We have a lot of work to do and we recognise that but with the assistance of the department and the commitment, I have no doubt that we would be making significant inroads when it comes to reducing this nasty scourge in our society,” Mr. Tanner highlighted.

The National Task Force for the Prevention of Sexual Violence which includes various stakeholders is also working to reduce the prevalence and ultimately the eradication of sexual violence in Guyana. The body was revived in December, 2016 to address the eradication of all forms of violence. The Ministers of Social Protection (at that time Ms. Volda Lawrence), Public Security, Public Health (at that time Dr. George Norton) and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs signed on to the protocol to have the Task Force operational.

Manager of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit, Mr. Akeelo Doris said its mandate is to develop policies for the eradication of all forms of violence. He had pointed out that it has been working closely with its partners to brainstorm ways and ideas to tackle domestic violence from the root. “Collaboration is key to addressing this phenomenon and we plan to increase our sensitisation and awareness efforts countrywide. We recognise that Guyana does not know that there is a Unit specifically developed to tackle this issue, so we have a lot of information and we need info from our partners out there,” he said.

Old age pension and public assistance
President Granger has pledged his Government’s commitment to doing all that is necessary to ensure that senior citizens in Guyana enjoy a good life. He said that the steady increase in old age pension since 2015 is a demonstration of this commitment. In 2015, when the Administration took Office, the old age pension was $13,125 and with the passage of the 2017 budget, the amount now stands at $19,000 per month.

Every Guyanese citizen, who has attains the age 65 and is living in Guyana is eligible for old age pension and currently some 51,000 persons benefit from this service, which is provided by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Social Protection.

The Government of Guyana also provides public assistance to those persons who are permanently disabled and those in economically strenuous circumstances. Mr. Tanner, providing an update on the programme, said a substantial number of children in the care of their grandparents, who because of illness and age are unable to work and adequately meet their needs, currently benefit from public assistance.

This assistance, which totals $7500 per child monthly, is provided to persons deemed suitable following an evaluation process undertaken by officials from the Ministry and involves home visits and budget assessments. He said, “We have a real focus on trying to assist as best as we can to provide those children with whatever we can do to enable them to go to school on a regular basis.”

The Ministry of Social Protection has a huge task with various social ills confronting officials on a daily basis but with the support of the relevant agencies and the commitment by the Government of Guyana to providing the necessary resources, Guyanese are assured of better lives and quality services.