The Ministry of Human Services and Social Secu-rity yesterday launched the country’s first ever business incubator dedicated to women.
A release from the ministry yesterday said that the incubator is poised to help thousands of women in the coming months to start up, sustain and market small businesses.
It was launched under the auspices of President Irfaan Ali and the subject minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud.
The event also saw the inauguration of the Minis-try’s free Women’s Inno-vation and Investment Network (WIIN) App which will link women from all across the country, allowing them to promote their businesses and enlist support from both local and international markets. The App which will be managed by the women business owners is expected to be available in a few weeks.
Persaud said that the idea of supporting women in this manner was conceptualized during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year when she recruited 120 women from across the country to produce thousands of face masks for various agencies.
During the launch at the Guyana Women’s Leader-ship Institute (GWLI), Cove and John, East Coast Demerara, Persaud said she reflected on how she thought that the paid initiative with the women should not stop there. What followed was a series of other initiatives including the recently launched WIIN and a free comprehensive training programme with no admission criteria that is open to women of all ages.
The release said that so far the WIIN programme has seen more than 4,000 applicants countrywide with over 500 already trained in Regions Three, Four and Five, Six in ICT, graphics design and professional care, among other areas. The Minister said that the remaining women will receive their training before the end of this year.
“I wanted women to move away from conventional types of employment; to start to think like bosses. But it’s not only about the training. Do you train people and then just leave them? What next?” the minister asked, according to the release.
Senior GWLI Training Officer Sanjay Pooran said that the basic concept behind the incubator is to provide support to any woman entrepreneur who needs help to start up a business like writing a business plan, accessing funding for the business, or help to market, brand, package or label it.
According to him, the entrepreneur can call GWLI or visit the officers who are trained in marketing and business planning development for guidance. While the ministry is currently looking at a funding component, GWLI will in the meantime refer the entrepreneur to sources of funding like the Institute of Private Enterprise Development and the Small Business Bureau among others.
School of the Nations Director Pamela O’Toole was also in attendance yesterday as her school is running WIIN courses in child care, care for the elderly, Microsoft Office, administrative assistant and computer, the release said.
“What was most inspiring is that when the ministry trains people, the other ministries and regional officers were able to use their skills and give them jobs like making masks and printing. It’s a wonderful initiative by the ministry not only to train the women but to support them,” O’Toole said.
