GUYANA has recorded significant progress in the area of gender equality through the implementation of policies and programmes that are consistent with the country’ ongoing rapid economic development.

The country’s progress was recorded in this year’s Global Gender Gap Insight Report, which is published annually by the World Economic Forum.

The report measures gaps between men and women based on four key indicators: Economic participation and opportunity, health and survival, educational attainment and political empowerment.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, the 2022 edition covers 146 countries, including Guyana, which ranked 35th, moving up 18 slots from its 53rd ranking in 2021. Guyana also ranked sixth in the Latin America and Caribbean Region.

In the area of economic participation and opportunity, Guyana ranked 53rd globally. Gender equality at the level of legislators, senior officials and managers places Guyana in 17th place, an astonishing score of 0.879/1, and tied with other countries in first place for gender equality at the level of professional and technical workers globally.

Notably, in the areas of access to financial services, land assets and non-land assets, Guyana recorded “near equal rights” with distinctively equal rights for widows and daughters with regard to inheritance.

Those statistics are a reflection of the cumulative results of the numerous projects and initiatives implemented by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.

In Guyana, women, for example, could apply for and successfully acquire house lots, loans, mortgages, business registrations and other financial and non-financial assets which create economic stability and parity.

Implementation of initiatives such as WIIN, empowerment grants for women, small business grants, and others, have created opportunities for women to become more involved in entrepreneurial activities and achieve greater economic independence.

In the area of education attainment, Guyana ranks first globally, tying with 21 other countries such as Canada, Brazil, The Netherlands and Jamaica, which is the only other Caribbean country in first place.

Guyana has also tied for the top spot with other countries in the ranking for enrolment in both secondary and tertiary education. This is especially important as it clearly indicates the outcomes and long-term impact of projects implemented by the government.

The construction of schools and the provision of human and other resources in Amerindian communities throughout the interior regions of Guyana, have made education accessible and attainable, even during periods when Guyana has had limited fiscal capacity.

Other pilot initiatives such as the school feeding and text-book provision programmes have been enhanced to create even more opportunities for children and youths all across Guyana to access education, which is a fundamental human right.

The $30,000 education cash grant also allowed parents and guardians to have more spending power, and to purchase supplies needed to send children to school.
This cash grant project, which was implemented by a previous PPP/C Government, was stopped under the APNU+AFC Government. It was reintroduced by the PPP/C in 2020.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Other opportunities such as the introduction of GROW and GOAL scholarships have seen thousands of Guyanese benefitting from free tertiary education, and preparatory courses for tertiary education.

In 2021, 6,000 applicants were awarded full scholarships for tertiary studies, of which 69 per cent were women and 31 per cent were men. Nevertheless, the Government of Guyana recognised the importance of supporting boys and men, who, for various reasons, are not as actively involved in further education.

Having recognised these existing gaps, the government continues to make efforts to encourage the participation of men and boys, and President, Dr Irfaan Ali most recently announced the introduction of a Men on Mission (MoM) project– a 1,000-man initiative aimed at engaging men across Guyana to tackle existing and emerging social issues.

Further, based on the health and survival index, Guyana yet again ranks first, tying with 27 other countries across the world. In sub-components of this index, such as sex ratio and birth, and healthy life expectancy, Guyana also ranks first globally.

Women in Guyana are afforded reproductive autonomy and have a legal right to make their own decisions regarding reproduction. This right is further reflected in the mean age of women at the birth of their first child, which is recorded at 26.7 years old; a healthy age and a significant improvement from the situation in Guyana 30 years ago.

Further, 98.5 per cent of live births in Guyana are attended to by skilled personnel. This is especially noteworthy, considering Guyana’s geography and the diverse terrain across the 10 administrative regions.

“Whilst the government recognises gaps in healthcare provision and continues to plan for improvements, the construction of healthcare facilities including hospitals, outposts, and health centres, the training of healthcare professionals and consistent budgetary allocations for the health sector over the past two decades has created almost universal access to healthcare across Guyana,” the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance said.

Guyana has also recorded equal rights for men and women in access to justice, and men and women also have equal rights to divorce.

Those are only some of the civil and political rights sub-indexes that are analysed in the report; however, other factors such as elections lists quotas and party membership quotas for women are also analysed.

“It is important for us to recognize that development is measured as a combination of various elements, and each and every project and initiative implemented by government forms part of a larger vision towards promoting development and realizing the fundamental human rights of all Guyanese,” the ministry said.

The outcomes of each project when viewed in isolation might appear small, but the overall impact of all the investments by the government creates positive change as is clearly shown in the 2022 Gender Gap Report.

The promotion of gender equality is no easy task, and the 2022 report even shows that various factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, global fuel and food crises, unprecedented natural disasters as a result of climate change, and civil conflicts have affected gender parity negatively on the global scale.

Despite this fear of backsliding in even some of the most developed countries, Guyana’s ranking continues to rise; the results of the commitment over many years of the government, rights commissions, and other key gender-equality stakeholders in Guyana are becoming more evident.

“Government therefore acknowledges these positive changes as quintessential in creating comprehensive national development, and remains committed to promoting and protecting gender equality, consistent with its One Guyana vision,” the Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Ministry said.