President Irfaan Ali’s announcement on Sunday about the launch or imminent launch of a programme dubbed 1,000 men, the objective of which, he confidently stated, is reversing the challenges faced by young men in Guyana is one that will bear keen watching. Particularly since, in the limited information made available so far, it was revealed that the 1,000 men, who from all indications will be mentors, will come from the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force, churches, and the sporting, teaching and business communities among others. Of course, it goes without saying that these advisers will be drawn from the hierarchy of the various disciplines and organisations mentioned. What was not made clear was whether the 1,000 men will volunteer their services or have the responsibility thrust upon them.
There is no denying the fact that Guyana has a problem with young men who lack focus. (This is not meant to imply that only young men lack focus; on the contrary, it is a genderless youth problem, though it seems to afflict young men more.) Nor is it indigenous to our country; it is a universal issue that many nations have been tackling in various ways for decades. That it appears to be growing worse, rather than better, has been considered by some social scientists as the result of a dearth of good male role models; an ever-declining pool.
Among the other issues facing young men are alcohol consumption, drug use, porn addiction, poor education, and money or a lack thereof, all of which lend to them making lamentable choices that can, in many cases, change the entire trajectory of their lives. If you’ve ever heard a sad-luck story, you’re likely to find one of these themes once you delve behind it. More than that they must also confront the everyday problems of humanity, often without the necessary navigation skills.
Furthermore, the overtly patriarchal societies in which we currently live constantly inform young men that they are above and better than young women and that they just need to ‘man up’. Yet, all around them that is being proved to be wrong. For example, in many countries, boys have been falling behind academically for decades. According to global statistics for 2020 published by Statisa.com, education attainment at the primary level was 88% girls and 91% boys; at the secondary level it was 66% girls and 66% boys; and at the tertiary, 41% and 36% respectively. When reality trumps indoctrination, confusion ensues. It is little wonder then that young men continue to founder and fill prisons.
Programmes designed to offer young people guidance, upliftment: both economically and morally, a sense of self and set them on a path for the future are the usual panacea for the ills referred to above. They tend to work, as long as the young ones targeted can be persuaded to get involved. The problem is that by the time young men start ‘stunting’ with a beer bottle in one hand, and wearing sagging pants that show the top three-quarters of their boxers or briefs, they may very well have reached the point of no return.
Guyana had and still has several programmes aimed at reaching recalcitrant youth. One can go as far back as the Guyana Youth Corps established in 1968 and the Guyana National Service in 1975, or look at the President’s Youth Award: Republic of Guyana launched in 1998 for examples. In addition, over the years there have been programmes of shorter duration such as the Skills and Knowledge for Youth Empowerment (2011) and Youth Empowerment Service (2017) both funded by the United States Agency for International Development, and the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (2015) among others.
The difference in the new 1,000-men programme is that it will specifically target young men, rather than all youth as the others did. Additionally, inherent in President Ali’s proclamation is that this new programme will attract 1,000 men of high morals, who are willing to not only give of their time to “develop and guide” young men, as stated in a press release from the Office of the President, but to be “deployed across the country” to do so.
What is yet to be known is the age group that will be targeted and the strategies the programme will employ to ensure that those who really need it not only find it attractive enough to sign on, but are incentivised to stay the course. It would likely make a huge difference if this new programme sets out to catch them young; in other words to reach boys before they actually fall through the cracks.
Genuine mentorship and direction given early can be life-altering. Evidence of this lies in the successes of organisations like ‘Big Brothers Big Sisters’ that have been operating for more than 100 years in North America and have expanded to other countries, including, close to home, Trinidad and Tobago. It is worth noting here that this organisation, and others like it, are non-governmental, which perhaps explains their longevity.
Consistency would be key to any programme proposing to reverse the challenges young men face as anything less may very well serve to exacerbate them. The point is that this is not and will never be a quick fix. It is clear that these problems are showing no signs of abating, therefore whoever is attempting to stem them has to be in it for the long haul.
