The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has promised to release US$50,000 to the Saint Francis Community Developers (SFCD) of Rose Hall, Corentyne to continue projects to help women and children achieve their rights.

Dr. Suleiman Braimoh, UNICEF’s country representative who promised to “talk to his colleagues,” made the decision to release the money after touring groups that operate under the SFCD in New Amsterdam and along the Corentyne.

At a ceremony held after the tour on Tuesday at the group’s restaurant, he remarked that “Saint Francis is underestimating what it can achieve” and that it is “no longer a roadside NGO….”

Further he said he looked forward to the “blueprint” for either Regions 5 or 6 to make it a gender friendly region and hope that the challenge would be taken seriously.

SFCD, which has been in existence for over 23 years, is the parent body of 22 Non-governmental Organisations referred to as the “Friends of St. Francis” in regions Five and Six.

Dr. Suleiman congratulated the group, which he considered to be doing “the most humble job” that is “yielding phenomenal results” and said he looked forward to continued commitment.

While SFCD President Alex Foster had mentioned that he preferred UNICEF as its funding agency, Dr. Suleiman said his dream is to see the day when the SFCD would “develop so much” that the assistance from UNICEF that they were depending on would no longer be necessary.

He said UNICEF is the only organisation around the world that is mandated to advocate and work for the advancement on the rights of children.

That, he said, has different phases such as: the child has the right to be born healthy, to undergo the right developmental process that would make him ready for school, so that he/she receives quality education and becomes a sound citizen. He saluted his colleagues for starting the job of supporting the SFCD but noted that the issue of the work is not for SFCD but it is to uplift the lives of people and “Saint Francis is just one of the vehicles through which you can get there.”

Foster said members of his groups have taken their mandates seriously and without much “fanfare and noise” for the benefit of the residents they are supporting. He told the UNICEF representatives that their strength comes from the beneficiaries and they continue to remain loyal to them.

He said he does not “jump from donor to donor” as that “would be leaving all our beneficiaries out in the cold.”

He said too that his organisation would not become like some groups that only work when donor funding is available.

He said SFCD would have to ensure that they move beyond donor funding and stick to its responsibilities and that is to listen to the voice of the voiceless by providing the professional counselling that they need at the community level.

He said their beneficiaries cannot wait until they find funding and that his group was ready and willing to sit with UNICEF to put forward a case that would represent the “voice of the voiceless.”

Among those in attendance were head of Child Protection Services Doris Roos, who said she is always humbled by the club’s commitment as well as president of the Guyana Teacher’s Union Colin Bynoe. In his brief remarks, Bynoe hoped that the Child Friendly Spaces that the SFCD started would reach the schools in the region to make the teachers more comfortable and asked for UNICEF’s support in that regard.