A UNDP-implemented project has allocated funds to help women and others who might have been trapped at home with abusers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement on Wednesday from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said that the support includes procurement of personal protective equipment which will benefit over 100 officers within the Guyana Police Force who are trained to handle gender-based violence issues.
It will also cover the distribution of food hampers through the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security which will benefit 470 vulnerable women and other at-risk groups, many of whom are survivors of gender-based violence.
The funding will also see the supply of communication equipment including three GPS units, three satellite phones and three laptop computers to the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development which are expected to improve real time communications and enhance data management and analysis in remote communities to help improve disaster management, including the COVID-19 response. The project, through the Office of the President, is also exploring options for installing handwashing stations in several vulnerable communities and supporting gender-based violence messaging.
The funding comes under the “Enabling, Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) Project”, which is supporting several efforts to tackle gender-based violence through the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana. The support is targeted at vulnerable groups (mostly women) who are more at risk of violence during the pandemic, the statement said.
EnGenDER is being implemented by the UNDP in partnership with UN Women, World Food Program, and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency. It seeks to address the issue of climate change impacts particularly on vulnerable groups such as women, children, youth, persons living with disabilities, and indigenous and tribal populations and is co-funded by Canada and the UK.
Recognizing that COVID-19 has brought new challenges for the people of Guyana including many who are trapped at home with their abusers, EnGenDER reallocated part of the project funding to support efforts to help stop violence while simultaneously supporting the people who have been victims of this violence, the statement said.
UNDP’s Resident Representative Jairo Valverde noted that “the effects of climate change and natural disasters exacerbate the challenges of inequality and socioeconomic vulnerability”.
The EnGenDER Project has as its core objective to help the Caribbean in becoming a more resilient region where there is a reduced impact of natural disasters on the public sector and vulnerable persons. The EnGenDER COVID-19 Response Initiative is providing US$1,149,000 to the nine eligible beneficiary countries to implement projects and activities which address gender-based violence, curb the spread of the coronavirus and provide essential goods and services as well as income support to the most vulnerable to strengthen their emergency response.
