Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud has labelled the Auditor General’s report on her ministry’s Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) programme as being “riddled with flawed conclusions, inaccuracies and omissions”.
Saying that the ministry is “disturbed by the numerous inaccuracies, serious flaws and significant omissions,” the Minister in a statement on Sunday boasted that WIIN “has revolutionized access to training for women across Guyana, offering the first-ever free hybrid model with zero entry requirements,”.
“This programme, unprecedented in its scope and impact, ensures that women in every region—regardless of background or circumstance—can gain valuable skills through the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute,” the Minister said in a statement in response to this newspaper’s article on the Auditor General’s report in last Friday’s edition.
Stabroek News had reported that the report has found major flaws in the programme for vulnerable women including poor design and follow-up but had stated that improvements are being made.
According to the Auditor General’s report, which was tabled in Parliament last Thursday, only 16% of the vulnerable women who were interested in the programme were reached.
It found that no provision was made for monitoring and evaluation of personnel in 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 had spoken to one beneficiary of the programme’s child care training who said 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.
Unsubstantiated
“Although extensive documentation and information for the said period were provided, it is disappointing that the report contains many unsubstantiated conclusions. It begs the question as to whether the report is framed negatively to diminish the tangible impact that this programme has on the lives of thousands of Guyanese women. No doubt there was, and will be room for improvement, as this is a new programme, a 3-year old, programme, which continues to evolve and expand,” the minister’s statement said.
It pointed out that while the report acknowledges the significant progress made since WIIN’s inception, “it undermines these achievements with skewed, overly negative conclusions. Instead of giving due credit to the transformative impact of this programme, the report distorts the narrative, diminishing the strides made and failing to recognize the full scope of WIIN’s success”.
Saying it is correcting the misinformation in the report, the statement detailed that when WIIN commenced in 2021, the audit report failed to document the dilapidated state of GWLI at the time the new administration took over in 2020.
“It overlooked key issues such as the defunct kitchen and computer lab, damaged infrastructure, leaking roof, lack of staff equipment, and the fact that only one technical staff member was employed,” it stated.
And while the report concluded that the physical environment and facilities were adequate, the minister’s statement said this was not the case during the audit period.
“The report fails to consider that the photos presented were taken at the end of 2023, after significant repairs and enhancements were made, and overall upgrades done GWLI. None of these were inherited in 2020 and these occurred during and beyond the audit period and were a direct result of the Ministry’s efforts to improve the Institute’s facilities,” the statement claimed.
The minister is of the opinion that the context is critical in highlighting the significant transformation by 2022, including ongoing staff increases to meet the programme’s needs.
According to the statement during the audit period, the Ministry worked diligently to build capacity and recruit staff within the existent structure approved by the Public Service Ministry (PSM). It said the audit overlooks the significant impact of COVID-19, which disrupted recruitment, training, and operations well into 2021.
“The report underplays the Board’s role in providing oversight and guidance to ensure that programs were aligned to the Institute’s long-term objectives during the audit period,” the statement said.
‘The audit report adopts an overly narrow and simplistic view of vulnerability, focusing exclusively on unemployed single-parent women. Vulnerability encompasses a much wider range of groups, such as women with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, and those from impoverished communities. By limiting its definition, the report overlooks the full scope of the Ministry’s targeted efforts. Consequently, the 16% figure presented is both misleading and incomplete, making the overall conclusion flawed and inaccurate”, the statement asserted.
16% figure
And as to the report’s conclusion that only 16% of the vulnerable women who were interested in the programme were reached, the statement said that the report failed to provide any data, tools, or methodology used to arrive at this percentage. It said also that it does not demonstrate that the other women reached were “not vulnerable.” The statement said: “Without a clear basis for this calculation, the claim lacks credibility and ignores the Ministry’s comprehensive outreach to diverse vulnerable groups”.
It added: “No mention is made of the many women from hinterland and rural areas who benefitted from training for the first time in their lives. It further fails to acknowledge that the overall number of women trained exceeded the target, with training provided both online and directly in communities, effectively bridging the access divide”.
As to the report’s conclusion that there was a lack of full participation from relevant government agencies and technical and vocational institutions in the course development process, the statement labelled this as “blatantly false”.
‘The Ministry collaborated extensively with key stakeholders, including the Board of Industrial Training (BIT). The training during the identified period was delivered by reputable institutions such as the University of Guyana’s Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (UG-IDCE), University of the West Indies -ROYTEC, and the Association of MBAs (ABMA) in the UK, through Nations Inc., ensuring that the courses met high standards,” the statement said.
As it relates to the Stabroek News reference to the certificate issued to one person being declared as having no value, the statement said this is “based on an anecdotal reference from a single individual…This isolated opinion does not reflect the legitimacy of the certification, which was conducted through respected educational bodies”.
The audit however, according to the statement, correctly identified some “inconsistencies in the database, including duplications and missing information.”
“However, the leap from identifying these issues to concluding that the Institute has used inaccurate information to make decisions is unfounded. Minor data inconsistencies do not imply that decision-making was compromised. The Institute actively maintains a database for applicants, participants, and courses by year, course, and region, which provided a solid foundation for decision-making,” it added.
