The national micro credit programme: Women of Worth (WOW) provides women with an opportunity to empower themselves.

The WOW project was officially launched June 4 by President Bharrat Jagdeo at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), and a collaborative agreement was made July 6, 2010 between the government, through the finance ministry, and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). 

WOW was established as a micro credit initiative, with the fundamental aims being to improve the socioeconomic status of women in Guyana, promote their active participation and integration in national development, and contribute towards poverty reduction, thereby stimulating micro and macro economic growth; provide access to financial resources and business development intervention for female single parents desirous of pursuing small business ventures, to act as a catalyst in creating an enabling environment (via community development programmes) which allow people at community levels to take advantage of economic opportunities, and increase women’s mobility, security, self esteem and participation in decision making processes at micro and macro levels. 

GBTI has provided G$500 million dollars and the Government of Guyana will provide G$50 million dollars each year to administer this project. Financing, from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $250,000, is offered on an unsecured basis to individuals.  The interest rate applicable to the loan is 6 percent per annum, not exceeding twenty-four months, inclusive of a moratorium of three to six months as necessary. 

Shaleeza Shaw, Head of Credit and Corporate Secretary at GBTI, stated that the WOW Initiative was derived from recognition that single parents are a vulnerable group in society that needs support to lift them out of the poverty line or above the poverty line. 

“We recognise the pivotal role women play in society and the fact that they are more likely than men to spend their income on the wellbeing of their families. Data around the world also show that women are more likely than men to repay their debts. In the wider scope of things, we embrace the philosophy of aiding growth of industry in our economy at all levels of organisation,” she told Guyana Times Sunday Magazine in an interview. 

The ultimate goal of this five-year project (2010- 2015) is to provide intervention and financial support to ensure that recipients of this micro credit initiative manage and sustain successful business ventures. 

To be eligible, female single parents must fall within the ages eighteen to sixty. All recipients of this project must have minimum level of training or skills in the proposed area of business; in addition, they must not be earning more than $40,000 per month.  All those who access this loan must be registered with the Single Parent Registry. 

“It has a low interest rate and they don’t have to have collateral. We saw it as an opportunity to help the younger generation because the loans will help in sending kids to school thus empowering them also,” Shaw explained. 

She noted that since the launch, more than 380 loans have been disbursed, and much more applications are pending, and the staff is working around the clock assessing them. 

“We have an overwhelming response to the WOW plan. Over 1,000 applications received; applications received from regions two, three, four, five, six, nine and ten. Outreaches were held in collaboration with the human services and social security ministry at Linden, Hampshire, Berbice, Anna Regina, Buxton and Fort Wellington… Also, moratoriums of 3 to 6 months [are] offered to help new businesses mature, so that the income generated can service the monthly instalment. Financing is given to help establish, carry on or expand a small business,” she disclosed. 

In a recent interview, human and social security minister, Priya Manickchand had said that this initiative is a fulfilment of the government’s promise to establish a single parent assistance plan and a micro-credit scheme for single parent women. 

In 2008, government invited a number of single parents across Guyana to register, which enabled the drafting of a single parent database register. 

“From then to now, hundreds of single parents benefited from the assistance under this scheme,” the minister said. 

More than 360 single parents were trained in skills that they chose such as garment construction, catering, cosmetology, Information Communications Technology (ICT), child care, office procedures and care for the elderly. 

The minister pointed out that WOW is the “epitome of government’s desire to establish an environment where good public-private relations could thrive and prosper, and underscores government’s appreciation for the benefits of the entire society moving in the same direction as it relates to empowerment of our people and development of our country.”  

She explained that the single largest challenge for the small business enterprise sector, and particularly for women, is access to finance, as they are hurdles in the conventional banking system that simply cannot be crossed by them. 

She stated that good, visionary governance requires the provision of the wherewithal to cross these hurdles, thus WOW was conceptualised. 

In June, the Fiscal Enactment (Amendment) Bill presented by finance minister Dr. Ashni Singh was passed.  The Bill, which amended the Income Tax Act and the Corporation Tax Act, seeks to give effect to a waiver of tax on income of a designated small business lending company derived from loans provided to a small business in a manner specified by agreement. 

“A manifestation of this is the agreement entered with GBTI which resulted in WOW, a micro-credit financial facility,” the minister noted. 

Single parents (women) can visit the Ministry of Human and Social Security to learn more about WOW and to benefit from it. 

Source: https://www.guyanatimesinternational.com/?p=2246

The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) is expected to terminate the services of child sex felon Dr Vishwamintra Persaud, according to Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand, who said she was both “horrified” and “appalled” that the doctor was granted a licence and employed in Guyana.

Minister Manickchand told reporters yesterday at the Bourda Cricket Ground, where she was supporting a rally on domestic violence,  that she was given the assurance by her colleague, Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy, that the doctor’s services would be terminated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSgAvHoV2XI[/embed]Manickchand in her first public comment on the issue, made it clear that she had been asking questions of the relevant authorities since she first heard of the matter.

“I was as horrified as any right thinking person in Guyana could possibly be at the circumstances under which this doctor, one… got registered and two, got hired,”  the minister told reporters.

According to the minister, she learnt about the doctor’s conviction in the press and needed some more information and having been informed that he was struck off the register in the US and the reason behind it she asked questions of the relevant authorities under what circumstances he was licensed and hired.  “Somebody like Dr Persaud with his… background cannot in my view work in a public institution or work as a doctor where he is going to come into contact with women and children,” the minister said emphatically.

The minister pointed out that the Medical Council of Guyana is a statutory body and as such no one can tell it what to do and while in the Medical Practitioner’s Act there is a position for the Minister of Health to refer matters to the council he cannot mandate the council.

Referring to a letter by Sherlina Nageer in yesterday’s Stabroek News, which among other things, accused the minister of a “deafening silence” on the issue, Manickchand said while maybe she should apologise, when she learnt of the issue, for her, “the only thing that was necessary was to make sure that this horrific thing where we have a sexual convict working in a hospital where the public was going to be exposed to him, was to get it reversed.

“I suspect what the letter writer wanted was for me to go public and say [how I felt] and perhaps the writer is justified in expecting that of a public officer, but, quite frankly, for me what was important was reversing that and we immediately did everything that we could to make sure that was not a reality anymore.”

Registered

Some have called for the doctor to be registered as a sexual offender. But the minister said a person is not registered as a sex offender under the Sexual Offences Act but rather under the Prevention of Crime Act.

“For me I am appalled. …The medical council clearly ignored this very serious message this government sent repeatedly over the years that we are not going to be tolerant of any sexual offences against our women and children… they ignored that completely; were blind to it. I am prepared to allow that they made a mistake….

“The Georgetown Public Hospital in their employment of this man where they professed that they knew what he did… their employment of this man is baffling. I don’t see any sane right-thinking person doing something like that and I wonder what on earth Dr [Madan] Rambarran means when he says it is only one child.

“How many children would have to be victims before you consider a matter serious and which child is worth less than the other? I really don’t believe Dr Rambarran was thinking if indeed he said that and if he was thinking then he really needs to review his perspective on this matter bearing in mind the laws that we have and his own humanity towards other people.”

Dr Persaud was granted an institutional licence, which limits him to one hospital and stipulates that he work under supervision, after he failed to submit a certificate of good standing to the council.

Medical Director of GPHC, Dr Rambarran, had said that when Dr Persaud applied for employment it was known that his licence was revoked and the circumstances surrounding the revocation were also known.

On Monday he was summoned to a meeting of the council where he was asked questions and he provided answers and the council is now set to pronounce on the matter. Head of the council Dr Sheik Amir had said that when the council had granted the doctor the licence it was unaware of his conviction and the only issue was the fact that he did not have a certificate of good standing from the country he had previously practised in.

“In terms of these new so-called revelations, I am not sure what is new about them that was already not known, but having said that the medical council would have to determine if they want to re-visit their decision to register him and we would be partly guided by that in terms of if they revoke the registration which means of course we would have to suspend his employment,” Dr Rambarran told reporters recently.

He had stressed that Dr Persaud is competent and that he could reapply for his licence in New York.
According to New York Department of Health documents, on April 18, 2008 Dr Persaud was found guilty, based on a guilty plea, of “attempted course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree.” On June 11, the same year, he was sentenced to an eight-year order of protection, ten years probation, fined US$25,500 and various fees and surcharges.

Dr Persaud abused the child from 2003 to October 2007 and only stopped after an adult was told. His licence, #207867, was revoked in November 2007, following a hearing before the State of New York’s Department of Health State Board for Professional Medical Conduct.

Recently Dr Persaud had helped to save the life of 19-year-old Shinnel George after her baby was delivered by c-section and she presented with preeclampsia. It was upon the publication of a news item on this case that his conviction became public knowledge.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/news/guyana/11/26/gphc-will-fire-child-sex-felon-manickchand/

Holding commemorative stamps yesterday, l-r, Trevor Thomas, Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Shirley Ferguson, coordinator of the Child Rights Division within the Ministry, Bishop Juan Edghill, chairman of the Guyana Post Office Corporation, Minister Priya Manickchand, Dr. Suleiman Braimoh, UNICEF country representative for Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago and Post Master General, GPOC, Henry Dundas.

Source: (GINA photo) https://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/photos/09/03/manickchand-officially-launches-child-rights-commemorative-stamps/

Minister of Human Services & Social Security Priya Manickchand has said that while alcohol plays a role in domestic violence it must not be seen as an excuse to perpetrate violence.

The minister told Stabroek News that many of the persons who seek the ministry’s help have indicated that their spouses imbibe alcohol.

“But I don’t consider alcohol an excuse for abuse. Voluntary intoxication is never a reason,” the minister told this newspaper when contacted recently on the issue.

“I think it contributes to whatever ills is happening in a person’s mind and should not be seen as an excuse,” the minister stressed.

Last week Magistrate Tejnarine Ramroop had told Stabroek News that alcohol abuse is the root cause of many of the domestic violence cases before him and he had called for the liquor licence regulations to be adhered to as there are too many rum shops in the country.

“I can tell you, 100 per cent of the domestic violence cases before me at the Albion Magistrate’s Court are related to alcohol,” the magistrate had told Stabroek News in a telephone interview from his Berbice home.

He had said it saddened his heart to hear the wives of men who abuse them say “he is a good man when he ain’t drinking but soon as he drink he does this.”

The comments made by Minister Manickchand, however,  were not in response to those made by Magistrate Ramroop.

Major role

Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Probation Officer Marva Williams told Stabroek News that alcohol plays a major role in domestic violence in Guyana but she cautioned that it is not the “root cause” of the problem.

However, she noted that there are some persons who begin drinking from a tender age and they have been socialized to drink and as such they are addicted by the time they become adults and this would automatically affect any relationship they enter.

“However you look at it the use and the abuse of alcohol affects relationships,” the probation officer said.

She said many times while under the influence persons become violent but she was once again quick to add that there are a number of reasons for domestic violence such as persons growing up in a home with domestic violence.

“What I have discovered is that people who imbibe would have other emotional problems but they would use the alcohol to get some sort of strength to deal with issues. So if the person does not have good communication skills or conflict resolution skills they tend to get drunk and then talk,” Williams told Stabroek News in a recent interview.

She said some persons would be “quiet as a mouse when they are not drunk” and issues that bother them “pile up and then they go and drink one day and everything comes up and some react violently.”

Williams said too many men and women do this and over her thirteen years as a social worker she has seen a number of cases where the use of alcohol or the use of some illicit drugs resulted in domestic violence.

She noted that when someone is drunk it is not the time to attempt any discussion with them or worse yet to be involved in an argument as that is the wrong time “if he have to sleep let him sleep because once he is drunk he is not going to be rational…”
Self-esteem

Williams said she has found that a number of women  are of the opinion that their spouses must hit them as it is an indication that they care for them.

“You have women who feel if I don’t get blows they are not loved… It is certain classes of people… they would have had self-esteem problems from the beginning. They feel that ‘this man owns me and when he hits me it is a kind of security.’ Some women move to the stage where they feel they deserve the beating which is a bad thing,” Williams said.

The former teacher said that when she is counselling her clients that is the first issue she establishes and once this is found to be true then she addresses it immediately.

Meanwhile, Williams said in most cases men who are addicted to alcohol only seek the ministry’s help after their spouses would have left them.

“You hardly see men coming unless the bottom falls out… They would come and say I had or I have an alcohol problem, I am getting remedial treatment right now, my wife has left me and I can’t handle it and I am really depressed.”

She said immediately she would take the focus away from the relationship and instead focus on his alcohol problem and encourage him to seek help for his addiction.

“I will say to him ‘I have an open door just come’ but one of the other things I would say ‘I am not going to promise you that our intervention is going to cause your wife to come back tomorrow or ever…’” Williams said.

Williams noted also that she would continue working with the man over a period of time once he keeps coming and after sometime would have elapsed she would make contact with the woman via the phone in an attempt to ascertain whether there is any hope of the two reuniting.

In some cases the woman would have moved on and Williams said she then works with the man in accepting this and helping him to move on too.

For her female clients Williams said it is a different approach as most of them are dependent on the man and children are involved but once there is hitting an immediate period of separation is recommended. They are referred to Help & Shelter for them to be placed in the safe home for a period.

Williams pointed out that as social workers they have been moving out of their offices more and are involved in more community work and they work with support groups such as churches and other organizations in disseminating information.

“And while we are talking we pick up cases of domestic violence like that… And sometimes when I go and do talks… by the time I come back to work people who sat there quietly, they turn up here.

Many cases come to me like that, when you go and do public education you sensitize people and they understand the services that are available,” Williams said.

She acknowledged that sometimes people don’t even know what are the services provided by the probation office and it is good to go and inform them  so that they can seek help when they are in need.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/news/guyana/08/09/alcohol-must-not-be-seen-as-excuse-to-commit-domestic-violence/

…ceremony to be held at State House

President Bharrat Jagdeo will on Monday sign into law the long awaited Sexual Offences Bill at a ceremony slated for State House.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon during his post Cabinet press briefing yesterday had indicated that the assenting ceremony would have happened today but a subsequent statement from Office of the President indicated that the date had been changed due to inclement weather.

Dr Luncheon at his briefing had stressed that the ceremony is in recognition of the importance of the legislation that the administration will bring into being.
According to Luncheon, Cabinet is convinced that the legislation is comprehensive enough to deal with the sexual misconduct so prevalent in society. It aims to prevent, penalize and also provide for therapy for victims and abusers.

The Bill was approved unanimously last month in the House on a rare occasion where both sides of the aisle were in loud praise. At that time, Human Services and Social Security Minister, Priya Manickchand, who was a key player in having the Bill become a reality, told the members of the House that for there to be success as it relates to the provisions of the Bill, the Members of the House had to be instrumental in effecting attitudinal changes.

The Minister called on the members of the house to take it upon themselves to select a section of the Bill and embark on an education campaign as it relates to the provision of the laws.
The Bill broadens the definition of rape as well as increases significantly its penalties.
It also removes restitution of conjugal rights thus making it possible for charges to be laid against a husband for raping his wife.

Exposing children to pornography will also attract stiff penalties to perpetrators under the new law.
As has been observed over the years where persons have been abusing a position of trust to violate children, the new law takes cognizance of this and provides for penalties.
Historically also, the Bill provides for Paper Committals wherein when a person is charged with an offence under this Act, there shall be no oral preliminary inquiry. Instead, a paper committal shall be held in accordance with the procedure set out.
Also under the new law all reports will have to be mandatorily investigated.

The Sexual Offences Bill states that where an offence under the Act is reported to the police, the police shall, in every case, record the report and conduct an investigation.
It also stipulates that within three months of a complaint being made under subsection a charge shall be laid in respect of the report or the file relating to the report and investigation shall be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
The new law states that failure to comply with subsection will constitute neglect of duty by the Investigating Rank and the Investigating Rank shall be liable to answer disciplinary charges in accordance with the Police (Discipline) Act.

All reforms in the law will benefit child victims as well as adults, but some tackle the particular problems of child victims and child witnesses among others.
Manickchand recently told this newspaper that she is happy that the Bill is now closer to being implemented.
The Minister also conveyed her appreciation to all who have contributed to the birth of and gestation of the legislation both at the committee level as well as during the Stamp it out campaign.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/05/21/president-to-assent-to-sexual-offences-bill-monday/

The Ministry of Human Services continues to spread Christmas cheer to less fortunate children with scores of Bare root children being the latest beneficiaries.

The Ministry, in collaboration with the Radio Needy Children’s Fund and the Community Development Committee of Bare Root, East Coast Demerara, yesterday distributed toys to children 12 years and under.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, said the gifts were being distributed in keeping with the festive season of giving and sharing.

She noted that the Ministry wanted to ensure that the children have toys to play with during the holiday, as well as have a merry Christmas.

Community Development Committee Chairperson, Negla Garraway, indicated that the initiative to give children toys for their Christmas is thoughtful and that it will assist them having a fun time.

On Saturday last the Ministry, in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy, feted children from homes and orphanages and presented them with gifts.

Source: (GINA) https://guyanachronicle.com/2009/12/24/minister-manickchand-spreads-christmas-cheer-to-bare-root-children

As Christmas Day looms even nearer, cheer has been spread to orphaned and less fortunate children. The Chinese Embassy in collaboration with the Child Care and Protection Agency yesterday hosted a children’s Christmas lunch at the Castellani Pool.

Some 700 children from more than 20 orphanages and children’s homes from across the country attended the lunch and each received a present of their own. Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, thanked the Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Zhang Jungao, for his Embassy’s collaboration and assistance at yesterday’s event.

The Minister, the Ambassador and his wife, as well as Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, were entertained by some of the children, who performed dances that they had previously performed at the recently held Children’s Concert at the National Cultural Centre.

The Minister told media operatives that the children’s gifts were purchased through collective funds between the Chinese Embassy and the Agency. She then added that she hoped the Christmas lunch could be made an annual event for the children as part of the Government’s policy on child care and protection.

Ambassador Zhang said that yesterday’s event was the biggest he has participated in with children, and added that the lunch reminded him of his childhood days back home in China around the Chinese New Year’s occasion.
He also commended the Government of Guyana on their work with children and their childcare and protection policy; Manickchand then mentioned that the lunch was an extension of the Government’s policy.

According to the Human Services Minister, the lunch allowed the children and care givers from the homes and orphanages from across Guyana an opportunity to interact with each other.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/12/20/more-christmas-cheer-for-orphans/

Dear Editor,
I have read Minister Manickchand’s strident response to my comments as reported in the press, and despite the fact that she has totally misunderstood them, I will refrain from engaging in a public debate on the safety of young children left vulnerable and unprotected.
I do need to say that Minister Manickchand talks a good talk and we hope that she will walk a good walk by seeing all the legislation through to the stage of enforcement.
She needs to rest assured that my admiration, respect and support for her, and her work in protecting the vulnerable men, women and children in our society from sexual predators, remains intact, even in the face of our obvious and very public differences of opinion.

Raphael Trotman

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/10/21/minister-manickchand-talks-a-good-talk/