The government says it will intensify efforts to tackle prevalent social scourges such as violence against women and girls.
“We are committed to ensuring that Guyana is safer for all women to live, work and enjoy a good quality of life,” said the Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh during his presentation of the 2023 budget on Monday.
According to Singh, since taking office, the government has focused on numerous interventions to curb gender-based violence in Guyana.
“While Guyana continues to work towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, efforts will be intensified towards tackling the prevalent social issue of violence against women and girls,” he added.
Key interventions in the human services sector to date include the 914 hotline and the iMatter application for immediate reporting of violence, the Survivors’ Advocates Programme which expanded counselling services, and the COPSQUAD2000 Initiative which saw over 1,476 police officers trained to deal with domestic violence related matters, said Singh.
He disclosed that two domestic violence shelters that cost $27.3 million will be opened later this year to provide much needed refuge for women and children fleeing violence. He said the government will continue to support Help and Shelter, given the services they provide to women and families fleeing domestic violence, with the sum of $56 million.
Singh also said that Guyana has maintained its Tier 1 ranking in the 2022 US State Department Human Trafficking Report for the 5th consecutive year, and that the government has completed a draft of the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill which is being reviewed by stakeholders. In addition, the government has been providing the required infrastructure to complement our initiatives such as domestic violence rooms at the police stations and courts, and domestic violence shelters.
He also said that the government’s contribution to support legal aid services increased to $114.9 million last year with some 7,597 persons benefiting from legal services.
Other key initiatives included the opening of a new child advocacy centre in Region 8, and launching a parent manual to promote child development knowledge and non-violent methods of disciplining, he said.
An additional $114.9 million has been allocated for the continued Government contribution toward legal aid services required by victims this year.
“The Ministry of Human, Services and Social Protection spent $30.3 billion in 2022. This year, the sum of $40.4 billion is allocated for the Ministry,” he concluded.
