Some 70 young people residing in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), including the riverine communities, recently participated in a Youth Empowerment Forum hosted by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry’s Gender Affairs Bureau and the Regional Gender Affairs Committee.
This forum forms part of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to reverse and eliminate the persistent gender stereotyping, negative cultural attitudes, and other practices which discriminate against men and women.
It also seeks to resocialize adolescent males and females away from the societal notions and stereotypical views on expressions and performance of masculinity and femininity and encourages them to understand the importance of shared roles.
70 Region Seven youths benefit from Human Services and Social Security Ministry’s Youth Empowerment Forum
As such, topics discussed during the forum included youth and masculinity, youth and violence, fostering better relationships among peers, mental health and bullying, and anger management and conflict resolution.
This informative exercise was facilitated by staff of the Gender Affairs Bureau, Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA), and the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit.
The Human Services Ministry, through its different units, continues to empower youths and Guyanese at large in awareness campaigns and informational activities to better equip them with the ability to tackle gender discrimination and other issues.
Last year, the Ministry carried out a series of activities to commemorate the 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence, aimed towards supporting victims of domestic violence and urging persons to report instances of violence when they are made aware.
Part of those efforts included not only engaging members of the Ministry’s teams from the CPA, Gender Affairs Bureau and Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit but also officers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
To ease the process of sharing experiences of violence, the Ministry also has a toll-free hotline number, 914, on which persons can report instances of abuse or violence.
Some 70 young people residing in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), including the riverine communities, recently participated in a Youth Empowerment Forum hosted by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry’s Gender Affairs Bureau and the Regional Gender Affairs Committee.
