A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday between Guyana and the US for the Youth Empowerment Service (YES) programme in Corriverton, East La Penitence, Sophia, Lodge and East Ruimveldt which will focus on at-risk young people.
The signing was done by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Christopher Cushing, to assist areas which were found to have high incidences of incarceration, crime and violence, teenage pregnancy, youth unemployment, school dropouts and drug use.
The four-year YES programme was designed to reduce youth involvement in crime in 10 countries in the Caribbean at a cost of US$64M. Guyana has been chosen to be one of the three focus-based countries together with St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis.