National Budget proposes skills training, empowerment assistance for more than 2000 hinterland women.

THE National Budget for 2012 has proposed that the Single Parent Assistance Programme be expanded to Regions One (Barima/Waini) and Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), where over 400 single mothers stand to benefit. In addition, it is intended that training would be provided to 2,000 women in areas such as small business management, basic accounting, and self-improvement, mainly to improve their capabilities and to afford them the opportunities to be able to source markets for production.

The Women’s Affairs Bureau and the Men’s Affairs Bureau will team up to launch the “No More Black and Blue” campaign; and, in addition, White Zones in several communities would be identified across the country.
“The fact that a number of women are now able to work towards providing a better quality of life for themselves and families through some of our programmes is no small achievement for this government,” Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh pointed out.
Under the Women of Worth (WoW) programme, hundreds of single mothers accessed loans for investment in small businesses. Moreover, the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI) has continued its work on empowering over 230 women through several capacity building programmes offered at the institute, including life skills and, for the first time, information technology.
Moreover, the Single Parent programme under the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) trained 423 parents in cosmetology, computer repairs, and electrical installation.