Canada’s High Commission here is contributing to a programme to assist vulnerable Venezuelan migrant women and girls.
The programme is being executed by HIAS, an international Jewish humanitarian organization that provides vital services to refugees and asylum seekers in 16 countries.
A release yesterday from the High Commission said that it signed a contribution agreement for a new project that will be undertaken by HIAS Guyana entitled “Increasing protection and awareness for vulnerable Venezuelan women and adolescent girls in Guyana who are survivors or at-risk of gender-based violence (GBV).”
The project aims to address needs of the Venezuelan migrant population in local communities, specifically with a focus on providing gender-based violence prevention and responsive services to migrant women and girls currently residing in Port Kaituma in Region One, Georgetown in Region Four and Bartica in Region Seven.
In the release, Canadian High Commissioner Mark K. Berman pointed out that over 5.6 million Venezuelans have left or fled their homes since 2015, with over 4.6 million remaining in the region. Thou-sands of Venezuelans are believed to have moved into Guyana via the northwest.
Berman said that on a large scale Canada is supporting the migrant population by hosting the next International Donors’ Conference in solidarity with Venezuelan refugees and migrants today. This, he said, is being done in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and that Guyana will also be participating.
At the conference, Canada will be collaborating with various partners to hear those affected by the crisis with the objective of highlighting the progress achieved to date and raising awareness of key opportunities. Funding from the 2020 International Donors’ Conference provided food, health, protection and cash-based aid to the Venezuelan migrants and refugees including women and girls. Due to the crisis, many of the migrants are placed in vulnerable situations, the release noted.
Berman posited that the needs are growing for the Venezuelan migrant community and the partnership with HIAS in Guyana is timely given the global call for support at the upcoming conference, as well as the fact that Guyana is a host country for Venezuelan migrants.
“The Government of Canada, through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, is thrilled to be associated with this project. I am also pleased that our government has contributed in a very tangible way to
supporting the Venezuelan migrant communities in Guyana. I must commend HIAS Guyana for the valuable work being undertaken,” he said.
The release said that the project will work to provide services to migrant women, adolescent girls and LGBTQI+ identified survivors of gender based violence. The needs of these individuals will be evaluated to provide psychosocial support, legal aid and a plan will be implemented for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the cases.
Dignity kits (hygiene and self care products) will also be distributed to the women, girls and other gender-based violence survivors to promote physical wellbeing and alleviate family budget constraints. The kits will also include health and protection information which will raise awareness on hygiene, reproductive health and gender-based violence.
Country Director for HIAS, Alex Theran, thanked Canada for its support of the project and said “The responsibility of hosting people who have been displaced from another country is a responsibility for the whole world and it really gives me a lot of hope when I see incredible countries such as Canada who have a strong track record of supporting refugees and displaced people, stepping up and supporting women and girls here in Guyana”.
The project will be executed over the course of a year.
