THE PPP/C government’s comprehensive approach to women empowerment represents a paradigm shift in how developing nations can systematically elevate half their population to drive national progress.
Through historic investments in women-focused programmes, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s administration has demonstrated that empowering women is not just a social imperative but a financial strategy that yields huge returns.

The government’s multi-sectoral approach is particularly deserving of praise for the strategic targeting of traditionally male industries.
The integration of over 365 women contractors into the road development project, with Region Four alone having more than 200 female contractors among 673 participants, is the clear intention to break down gender barriers in the building industry.

As contractor Leanna Yearwood rightly pointed out, this programme offers women a chance “to flourish in a male-dominated field,” while also creating important infrastructure that serves entire communities. This two-for-one approach is the epitome of smart governance that tackles several development issues at once.

Most impressive, though, is the transformation of the agricultural sector, where the government has surpassed its own projections. The Agriculture Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme began with a 35 per cent women-owned goal, but achieved an impressive 65 per cent women leadership in the new agribusinesses.
This success is more than just statistics—the Guyana School of Agriculture’s latest graduating class was 50 per cent female, with 222 women graduates earning qualifications that will spearhead the country’s food security agenda.

The West Bank Demerara shade house farming initiative for 100 women at the small-scale backyard farming enterprises level is another demonstration of the government’s bottom-up economic empowerment support.
Education and housing sectors showcase equally remarkable developments. Of the 9,000 GOAL graduates, 7,000 were women, and over 4,000 women joined teaching ranks from recent graduations.
In housing, 46.1 of allocations went to women, ensuring key property ownership and economic independence. As Minister Susan Rodrigues had eloquently described them, these are “women-only applicants,” not joint applications, truly a sign of individual empowerment.

The Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) also consolidates these activities, providing entrepreneurship promotion and skills training that results in sustained economic empowerment.
This combined strategy, connecting infrastructure participation, agricultural entrepreneurship, education, and land ownership, activates several channels of empowerment that reinforce each other.
The PPP/C government has shown that organised women empowerment, together with high-level investment and political will, can attain gender equality and propel national development in measurable, concrete terms simultaneously.