–Survivor’s advocacy programme, special intervention for DV victims

UNDER the National 2020 Budget, there will be increased focus on human services programmes to address issues such homelessness, domestic violence, and improving the lives of children, senior citizens and persons living with disabilities.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud has noted that though the budgetary allocation to her Ministry has not yet been revealed, the projects expected to be covered are wide- ranging, and cater for many of the country’s most vulnerable groups.

“There are a number of new initiatives, and it does mean quite a lot for the most vulnerable. We were able, in an emergency budget with limited fiscal space, to provide for the extremely vulnerable. This Budget allows us to work on alternate pension delivery; especially direct pension delivery. It allows us to focus on extremely vulnerable populations like children, where we are working to expand our child advocacy centres; we are also looking at domestic violence, gender-based violence. Because of COVID-19, there are a lot of measures put in place to target this,” the Minister pointed out.

. Persaud noted that chief among the programmes is the “Survivor’s Advocacy Programme”, which will be aiming to create a more compassionate environment for victims of domestic violence in Guyana.

“It’s a very special intervention; the “Survivor Advocacy Programme” will be where persons affected by domestic violence will have a support system to get them through the various channels, starting from the point of reporting to conclusion of their matters. There are services, but they can be difficult to navigate, so we want to have that support system for them, in addition to psychosocial intervention and welfare,” Minister Persaud explained.

She also noted that previously-announced measures targeting senior citizens, such as the increase in old age pension, and the restoration of free water for pensioners are measures that she looks forward to seeing being implemented.

The Minister was recently commended for the programme, when she presented it at a Commonwealth Inter-Ministerial Meeting, where it was highlighted as a programme other countries could pattern themselves after.

Other highlights of the National 2020 Budget that will target human services initiatives were shared by Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, when he presented the National 2020 Budget on Tuesday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC).

MUCH TO BE DESIRED

During the presentation, Minister Edghill noted that the state in which the new administration met human services when it took office last month leaves much to be desired.
“We have found that over the last five years, human services were badly managed and poorly executed. There was a common theme of unaccountability in the implementation of programmes. On the legislative aspect, there was an incessant neglect of policies and recommendations that would have addressed issues such as sexual offences, trafficking in persons and domestic violence,” Minister Edghill said, adding:
“This PPP/C administration is committed to the welfare and well-being of all Guyanese. We will continue to deliver key services to the most vulnerable groups, including women and children, disadvantaged families, the elderly, the differently-abled and those who are at risk of being trafficked.”

IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE
Edghill noted that there are several programmes under the $330B Budget 2020 that looks at improving the lives of the country’s most vulnerable, particularly given the COVID-19 situation the country is currently facing.

“As part of our commitment, we will continue to partner with all stakeholders in Guyana to assist in the delivery of hampers and other forms of assistance to our underprivileged and vulnerable groups, including as part of our COVID-19 relief measures. A focused programme to address the issue of homelessness and indigence is anticipated to be operationalised in the last quarter of 2020,” he said.

Edghill noted that the government is building stronger ties with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), particularly those working with domestic violence victims, and persons with disabilities.

“We have expanded our partnership with Eye Care Guyana, which will also complement the 13 new optometrists who entered the system this year. This partnership will expand the number of glasses that can be provided to persons in need to 1,500. We hope to increase this number to 5,000 annually, in the coming years. Additionally, our disabilities programme has also partnered with Starkey Hearing Foundation to screen, assess and fit over 1,000 persons with hearing aids in Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) this year,” he declared.
In the area of domestic violence, aside from partnering with organisations, Minister Edghill noted that improvement of services offered at the police stations will also be implemented.

“Domestic violence continues to be a plague that afflicts our citizens, particularly women and youth. Government will continue to support programmes to enhance the physical infrastructure at police stations, and also enhance the capacity of law enforcement officers and prosecutors to better deal with these issues. However, we recognise that this scourge is something that cannot be tackled by Government alone, so we continue to encourage civil society organisations to partner with government,” he said.
There will also be increased budgetary allocations to the organisations.

“Budget 2020 has recorded increased allocations to several such organisations to help strengthen their ability to respond to this uncivilised, inhuman behaviour, for which there should be zero tolerance,” he said.