President Ali believes in country’s potential as benchmark for other nations

GUYANA is well on its way to surpassing global targets on gender equality and empowerment with the implementation of several strategic policies, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said.
The Head of State, while addressing a regional ministerial forum on gender equality and empowerment held at the Marriott Hotel, Georgetown, on Wednesday, said Guyana has been focusing on establishing policies that will support women and girls, ensuring that they are included in the country’s development.

“We have gone far beyond the 2030 agenda in Guyana and it’s not by accident. By the time the world sets a 2050 agenda, we will achieve the 2050 agenda because we are building a Guyana to function in a world 2030 and beyond,” Dr. Ali said.

The aim is to build a Guyana that is competitive, resilient, and sustainable to provide global leadership.
To achieve this, much focus has been placed on improving access to education and training for women and girls, and according to statistics provided by the Head of State, the country has made a tremendous headway.

Women make up 70 percent of the participants in the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme, which consists of over 20,000 individuals.
This was a programme introduced by the government to provide more access to training and tertiary education to the populace
In addition to this, 74 per cent of scholarships that were granted to women through the Ministry of the Public Service were women.
Additionally, it should be noted that women are currently holding leadership positions in both municipalities and regional democratic councils (RDCs) throughout the entire country.
In pursuit of this objective, nearly 50 percent of the composition of the municipality of the country consists of women. “These are numbers you don’t see anywhere else,” the President said. “We must set an example, we must set the benchmark,” he added.

When discussing the accomplishments of Guyana, the President acknowledged that further efforts are required, particularly at the regional level.
“The world we live in is becoming more and more complex. And that is why on the issue of empowerment and equality we have to reshape the dialogue from actionable to systemic.”
Leaders, as he pointed out, will need to scrutinise budgetary frameworks to ensure the successful implementation of policies.

Additionally, upon deeper examination of the initiatives and policies executed by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, and under the guidance of Minister Dr. Vindhya Persaud, it was observed that Guyana has successfully formulated programmes aligned with the global objectives established by the United Nations and the European Union.
The programmes encompass the Women Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) initiative, which has successfully trained over 12,000 women. Additionally, the COPSQUAD initiative has provided training to police officers to enhance their understanding of handling vulnerable women and children.

Aside from these programmes, other initiatives to provide legal support and other forms of assistance were rolled out.
Minister Persaud highlighted the potential for further progress from her ministry, expressing the intention to incorporate several of these initiatives into the national budgetary framework.

The regional ministerial forum brings together several human services and protection ministers from the Region.
Over the next two days, frank discussions and closed-door meetings to establish robust frameworks and policies will take place here in Guyana.