With the aim of improving support for youth and strengthening their resilience to crime and violence, the United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has launched the Youth Resilience, Illusion and Empowerment (Y-RIE) programme, which will run for five years in Guyana, Grenada and Saint Lucia.
Y-RIE intends to work closely with key stakeholders in the Government of Guyana, the private sector and civil society to improve Guyana’s youth’s resilience to crime and violence. The programme focuses on youth between 10 and 29 years old. The programme applies a key principle of the positive youth development concept, that is, recognizing youth assets and building on their strengths as they develop into adulthood, while empowering them to be active contributors to building safer communities. Through the Y-RIE programme, USAID will partner with the ministries of Human Services and Social Security; Culture, Youth and Sports; Home Affairs; and Labour to strengthen social and other youth-centred services.
It is expected that the youth targeted by Y-RIE will see improved educational outcomes, preparedness to enter the workforce and access to employment. The programme will also support entrepreneurial or small business pathways and strengthen networks that facilitate these. Further, the programme will engage families and residents in communities, therefore improving holistic support for youth. Y-RIE will also support interventions that change attitudes and behaviours that contribute to violence, in order to create safe communities.
In her keynote address at the launch, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud underscored the Government of Guyana’s commitment to a partnership that complements and provides synergy with its vision to address social challenges that contribute to crime and violence.
Persaud stated, “We are all committed to a process where young people will be given an opportunity – through strategies that counter any escalation of violence and crime. There are many youth programmes and those programmes along with services provided for through various ministries, will be strengthened through technical partnership with this programme.”
The minister noted that the first of the programmes to be rolled out focuses on her ministry and officers who are responsible for juveniles. Officers of her ministry, Persaud said, will be trained to deal with recognising trauma, on shock-responsiveness and how they can engage better with young people to prevent and intervene in cases where young people are at risk of getting into a life of crime and violence and also those who are already in that arena, so that we can get them out of it and back to integrated society.
Reaffirming the role of young people in Guyana’s development, US Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Adrienne Galanek said, “Y-RIE will actively engage young people, seeing them as partners, not as passive recipients. We seek to help them discover and uncover their talents and use their passions and skills to advance their ambitions and goals. Young people aspire to be productive, responsible and contributing adult members of their community and together we can help them fulfil these goals and more.”
