Ministry to monitor use of grants to innovative project youths

The Social Cohesion Ministry will be taking the necessary steps to ensure that grants awarded to successful applicants of the Youth Innovation Project of Guyana (YIPoG) are being spent only on their project.
This was announced by the programme’s Project Officer, Germaine Watson, on Friday.

“What we are doing this year is to allot those monies in tranches. So, as against last year, whereby persons got their full amount, we will be giving those monies according to our investigations, according to their proposals and the reports,” Watson explained.
To ensure that the necessary monitoring is being done, especially now that the Government has allotted $70 million to the successful applicants, Watson told Guyana Times that at least 17 monitors have been employed.
Social Cohesion Minister with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton, has reiterated the vitality of the programme to the Guyanese youths.
This year’s theme, like last year’s, is ‘Aspire, Inspire to Reach’.
Director of Youth, Melissa Carmichael, informed thus, “Each region, through the regional offices, toshaos and community development officers, will receive the Youth Innovation packages, while monitors will be assigned to the said regions to facilitate the channeling of the innovative ideas and pioneering spirit of young Guyanese so as to produce solutions…”
Persons between the ages of 14 and 35 are being urged to apply, as are teams comprising of less than 10 participants. The projects or programmes being submitted by these applicants should focus on social and environmental development issues using Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Antropology, Archaeology, Arts, Mathematics and Spirituality (STEAMS).
Application forms can be uplifted from the Department of Youth, as well as its Facebook page and The Ministry’s website. Applicants have until June 30, 2018 to ensure their proposals are submitted.
Proposals for YIPoG will be shortlisted according to the clarity in goals, sensible budgeting, and long-term sustainability, among other criteria.
In a brief report, Carmichael informed that 21 groups and individuals from several different areas across Guyana were last year awarded grants to facilitate the implementation of their projects.
Some $40 million were spent on the YIPoG initiative. She related that the programme received 56 proposals, from which 21 received funding. “To date, approximately 60 per cent of the projects are in their implementation stage, while the others are securing relevant materials to begin work,” she said.
Region Four received the most grants, followed by Region Seven; while Regions One, Two, Three, Five, Six, Eight, Nine and Ten secured one each.
The projects that were funded during last year are expected to improve the lives of students and citizens within the respective regions.
Some developers of programmes include Romel Putulall, Shamar Spencer, Berlinda Persaud and Christine DeCambra-Forrester.
Shamar Spencer, in brief remarks, said his major challenge during the development of ‘SWOOP’ was public awareness. Swoop is a mobile application (app) that Spencer created to allow persons to trade goods and services without the use of money. His project was awarded $1 million.
Last year’s participants also seized the opportunity to display models of their projects on Friday.