-only 16% were reached
An Auditor General’s report has found major flaws in one of government’s flagship programmes for vulnerable women including poor design and follow-up but said that improvements are being made.
Only 16% of the vulnerable women who were interested in the Ministry of Human Services Social Security’s Women’s Inno-vation and Investment Network (WIIN) programme were reached, according to the report tabled in Parliament yesterday.
It found that no provision was made for monitoring and evaluation of personnel on the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute’s (GWLI) organisational structure and raised questions about the quality of the training offered.
The report highlighted a number of other shortcomings of the programme. During the period, 14,663 persons had applied to the programme and 2,571 of them were identified as the most vulnerable (unemployed single parent) women.
“However, only 410 of these women took part in the programme. As a result, 84% of the most vulnerable women are at risk of being left behind,” the report said.
Concerning as well, the report found that training received by “vulnerable women through the institute may not be beneficial in allowing them to gain meaningful employment”.
This newspaper spoke to at least one beneficiary of the programme’s child care training who indicated that she was unable to gain employment with the certificate she received and was even told by another agency that falls under the Ministry that the certificate is meaningless.
The Ministry re-established the GWLI in 2021 and spent a total of $185.5m over two years. According to the report this included $64m spent in 2021 alone on the WIIN training programme, aimed at empowering women and girls. However, the programme started five months after the institute was re-established and rolled out nationally in July.
The performance audit was conducted from January 1st 2021 to 31 December 2022 to determine whether the design and implementation of the WIIN programme could empower vulnerable women, giving them a better opportunity to access employment or start a business.
Giving some insight into the programme, the audit report shared that for the years 2021 and 2022 over 6,000 individuals across all ten administrative regions of Guyana received training through the institute’s WIIN programme, in seven technical and vocational areas. This was more than the targeted amount and represented 41% of the persons who had applied for the period.
However, importantly the report found that the “design and implementation of the programme could not have empowered underprivileged and single-parent women to gain employment or start a small business to sustain themselves and their families”.
It was noted as well, that key stakeholders were not involved in designing the programme and participants were not checked up on to receive feedback for critical decision-making.
On the positive end the report found that the GWLI developed good working environments and training spaces, as well as provided staff with the equipment needed to perform their duties. Additionally, it said that training needs were identified and used to design the programme. Further, systems are now in place to properly monitor and evaluate the programme’s performance and graduates’ progress. The programme, the report said, initially offered level one courses in seven areas. However, they are now offering up to level three in those areas and two new areas.
However, it was pointed out that the failure to properly establish an organisational structure with all relevant positions relating to an organisation’s operations, determining staff strength for each position and ensuring all positions are filled, could affect the institute’s ability to properly design and implement the programme, the quality of services offered to women and girls and the efficiency and effectiveness in achieving its objective,” the report said.
It was recommended by the audit office that the Head of the Budget Agency should ensure the institute has an approved organisational structure with the required staff strength and all positions relative to its responsibilities and services offered.
Not evident
In the meantime, the report said that although the Ministry indicated that it collaborated with other stakeholders in developing the courses, the involvement of key partners such as technical and vocational institutes and government agencies was “not evident”.
“Their non-participation in developing courses was confirmed through interviews. Hence, it could not be determined if the course content was benchmarked. As such, the institute did not demonstrate that the courses offered were equivalent to those provided by government-owned technical and vocational institutions and educational institutes nationwide, despite being developed by accredited institutions,” the report said.
It was recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency should ensure consultations with other stakeholders and decisions made for course design are documented and presented for audit scrutiny.
And even the response provided by management, according to the report, proved that the participation rate of other stakeholders was low for the targeted population, especially for the most vulnerable women.
“Additionally, the institute failed to show how it used the information from consultation process to make decisions for the programme implementation. As a result, 84% of the most vulnerable women interested in the programme were not reached, and the programme’s objectives may not be achieved.
Here it was recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency should ensure application and registration information is analysed and used for design and implementation decisions.
Did not prove
Meantime, according to the report the institute trained over 6,000 individuals during 2021 and 2022 in seven technical and vocational areas. However, it was noted that they did not prove that they effectively designed and implemented the WIIN programme.
“This was to ensure all interested vulnerable women, had equal opportunity to access knowledge and skill development that could allow them to gain meaningful employment or start a small business,” the report pointed out.
The report concluded there was a lack of participation from various government and technical and vocational institutions in developing the courses.
“Additionally, information from the application and registration process was not used to make decisions, resulting in 84% of interested vulnerable women not participating in the programme. As such, some groups of women were not reached and may be at risk of being left behind,” the report said.
The report called for the institute to monitor and evaluate participants after training to measure their growth and development and determine the programme’s effectiveness.
Worryingly, the report said that databases contain duplicate and incomplete information. It noted that the institute was required to maintain a database of all applicants, participants, and skilled professionals, to allow easy access to information for decision-making. It was found that a database of applicants, participants, and courses was maintained. The information was available by year, course, and region.
“An analysis of the database revealed there were duplications and missing information of individuals. In addition, the information was not consistent across courses and regions. This resulted from inadequate staffing, who was tasked with performing additional duties to meet set targets. As such, the institute may have used inaccurate information to make decisions for the WIIN programme,” the report found.
As a result, it was recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency ensure databases maintained by the institute are complete with accurate information.
No evidence
The report found that there was no evidence of follow-up with graduates It pointed out that a responsibility of the institute was to follow up with graduates after training to measure changes related to employment, business plan development, business start-ups, and increased income. Also, to provide additional support if necessary.
“The issue arose because the institute did not have any data on the participants or graduates who used the Ministry services, and those who accessed and utilized the support services of the business incubator. The institute’s failure to document follow-up meant we could not verify whether information on graduates’ progress was considered for future decision-making,” the report said.
Consequently, the report said, it was unclear whether the institute provided accurate information to management to make informed decisions for the programme.
It was therefore recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency should ensure engagements with graduates are documented, analyzed, and used for decision-making.
Taken steps
On a positive note, the report found that the institute has taken steps to bridge the identified gaps and enhance the overall programme performance. This it said. was evident as they employed new staff and continued to seek new ways of being assisted in the execution of their duties. They also revised the number and levels of courses offered as demand increased.
