First Lady Sandra Granger is collaborating with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Guyana to create opportunities for young people to develop their capacity in Technology and robotics.
The collaboration comes as a result of a new initiative to be launched by the United Nations (UN) and UNICEF, a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency said yesterday.
The initiative, called the “Young Peoples Agenda” is a part of the United Nations new commitment to working with and for young people. It is also a part of a UN Youth Strategy and Generation Unlimited Partnership that will be launched at the UN Headquarters, New York at the 73rd UN General Assembly later this month. The First Lady will be attending the forum.
The statement said that Mrs. Granger met with UNICEF’s Resident Representative Sylvie Fouet yesterday to discuss the First Lady’s involvement in the area of youth development relative to Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) and robotics, and ways in which her work in that area can be boosted through the UNICEF’s collaboration.
The statement said that the “Young Peoples Agenda” will particularly be focused on the most vulnerable, including girls, the poorest and those with disabilities. It will also address active citizenship, learning, employability and personal empowerment.
Fouet said the “Young Peoples Agenda” is aimed at preparing youth during their second decade (10-20 years old) to be able to access new jobs, since in coming years there will be more new jobs, many of which will be technological.
“It will be a digital world,” she said.
The UNICEF Guyana Representative said the vision is to create a mini Silicon Valley in Guyana.
“We are working on how we can create opportunities for young people,” Fouet said while adding “a part of it is to find opportunities to give second chances to those who have been exposed to pregnancy or challenges of violence and also see how we can get young people to acquire new skills and a part of that is how we look in terms of digital technology and information and I know a part of the journey with the first lady is to have a space, maybe an ICT park or a training centre, where we could have those persons who may not have even had a first chance or a second chance – to prepare for business.”
