–to further provide support for vulnerable groups, respond to critical issues

GUYANA and Canada on Sunday finalised an agreement for a CAN$120 million sovereign loan to further boost support for vulnerable groups.

The agreement was signed by Guyana’s Senior Minister within the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh and Canada’s Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, at the Canadian High Commissioner’s residence.

Hussen, who is visiting this country for the first time, in his address, said the two countries are strengthening bilateral ties with the loan agreement that has been tailored to the needs of Guyana.

He said: “Our goal is to support Guyana in generating beneficial social, economic and environmental outcomes for the good of all your citizens, particularly the most vulnerable.”
Hussen emphasised the importance of cooperation between Guyana and Canada to achieve sustainable development goals, addressing issues such as gender-based violence, empowerment of people living with disabilities, and support for victims of human trafficking.

“This loan is tailored towards the needs of Guyana. It will focus on our mutual priorities and interests. It’s about protecting the most vulnerable populations. It’s about making sure that as we grow our economies, we promote gender and power and we fight gender-based violence.

“It’s about empowering people with disabilities and enabling them to participate fully in the economy and the society. It is about supporting victims of human trafficking. It’s about strengthening the pension systems,” the Canadian official added.

Guyana is the first country in the Western Hemisphere to benefit from the sovereign loan programme which aims to generate beneficial social, economic and environmental outcomes by providing concessional financial support to eligible recipients.

The programme provides tailored support to the needs and priorities of eligible states, as it relates to poverty reduction and peace and security.

“The relationship between Canada and Guyana is going through now a new phase of affairs, rooted and grounded in economic and commercial ties that did not exist previously near anything near to the scale that we’re seeing now,” Dr. Singh said during his remarks.

He added that as the country undergoes rapid development, the government remains ‘ever mindful’ of the need to provide improved support to vulnerable groups.

“We have retained at the highest level of our priorities, the objective of ensuring that the most vulnerable in our society experience the physical and tangible [benefits], including and in particular in relation to the delivery of social services,” the senior minister said.

Dr. Singh added that the sovereign loan programme which is intermediated through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), makes a substantial contribution to efforts already being made by the government through its Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.

The loan programme also features a climate-resilient debt clause to access funds in the event that Guyana experiences a climate incident, a natural disaster, a pandemic or an epidemic.

This frees up critical resources required to respond immediately to a crisis

In brief remarks, Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Mark Berman said the loan agreement is merely just the beginning of continued partnerships between the countries.

Describing Sunday’s signing ceremony as ‘symbolic’, Berman said the loan agreement highlights Canada’s support to Guyana’s efforts in strengthening social services for its citizens, in particular the most vulnerable.