The education of girls was the main point underscored at the launch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 2016 State of the World Population report on Wednesday. The launch was hosted in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady of Guyana and the Social Protection Ministry. The need for educating girls was stressed as the principle means to end the scourge of teenage pregnancy. This sentiment was expressed by Guyana’s First Lady Sandra Granger who stated that she held the social issue to he
The First Lady and several Ministers addressed the gathering on Wednesday
r heart, and as such, she was quite concerned over the statistics in Guyana.
“Teen pregnancy impacts the health, education, social and economic well being of our adolescent girls. It is a matter of concern that the Caribbean ranks second to Sub-Saharan Africa as having the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the world [and] of greater concern that Guyana has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the Commonwealth Caribbean,” she explained.
Mrs Granger added that she recently learnt that Sophia, Greater Georgetown has the highest rate of teenage mothers in Guyana. She told the gathering that the country needs to have more discussions and programmes to combat the issue, underscoring the need that fathers of the babies must be included in the said discussions.
The First Lady also stated that based on statistics, many young women who have been involved with multiple sex partners have a higher rate of being diagnosed with cervical cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in Guyana.
The First lady stated that she is pleased that Government is considering issuing the Human Papilloma Virus to the female population. She added that the statistics show an increase of HIV mainly among young girls in the country.
Also addressing the launch was Junior Education Minister Nicolette Henry who noted that if girls are not educated, this will hinder the future generation.
“The world has already done well in many ways for the boys in terms of their education, it is well past time for us to do equally so for our girls,” she noted.
Minister within the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, stated that more investments need to be made for girls in hinterland communities while Junior Infrastructure Minister Annette Ferguson posited that the girls’ education is integral for the country to attain the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Ferguson also highlighted that our young people must be able to take up non-traditional career especially in the fields of Science and technology, noting that that gender roles are being redefined and the culture changes.
“Our future is dependent on what we do for our young people today, especially our girls,” she noted. (Shemuel Fanfair)
