Guyanese women driving national progress

– over $156B invested in women empowerment

Women are the bedrock of Guyana’s transformation with many taking on opportunities to strive, President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali said as he launched the Newborn Cash Grant initiative on Saturday.
With the launching ceremony held on International Women’s Day, the head of state highlighted the tangible progress made by women in the last four years – a result of deliberate investments, support, policies and programmes.
The government has directly and indirectly, invested $156 billion, towards women empowerment initiatives.
Guyana’s Agriculture Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme has surpassed its ambitious goal of 35 percent women ownership for new agribusinesses, defying initial scepticism.
President Ali announced that an impressive 65 percent of these ventures are now owned and led by women.
This success is exemplified at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), where women comprised 50 percent of the latest graduating class, with 222 female graduates earning their qualifications.
“These are the stats that tell the story of the role women are playing in our society. And as I said, it did not happen by accident…These are the stories that are not told. This is how the government is working for you,” President Ali declared.
Not only are women thriving in the agriculture sector, but they have been empowered with education opportunities though an investment of more than $30 billion in the last four years.
For instance, of the 9,000 who completed the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme, 7,000 of them were women, reflecting their significant contributions to the nation’s development.
Women are also taking on roles in the technical field, with 10,000 of them graduating from various technical institutions across Guyana. Additionally, almost 60 per cent of women have received scholarships through the Hinterland Scholarship Programme.
Women are also playing a critical role in educating the nation’s future as of the 4,600 teachers recently graduated, over 4,000 are women.
Thousands of women have gained valuable skill sets to expand and prosper in their business ventures through the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s Women Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) training programme.
The president said as Guyana continues on the path of transformation, investments will be directed to establish daycare facilities to provide essential support to professional women.