The Guyana Women and Girls’ Summit opened this morning with Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud announcing the Government’s intention to train an additional 6,000 women under its flagship programme – Women’s Investment and Innovation Network (WIIN) – with the primary objective of helping women achieve financial independence.
The WIIN Training Initiative is among programmes being offered to Guyanese women across the 10 Administrative Regions through the Human Services Ministry’s Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute.
According to Minister Persaud, the programme, which started in 2020, has been reaping tremendous benefits. She explained that under the WIIN Programme women are being equipped with the requisite skills and knowledge needed to establish businesses in conventional and unconventional areas such as garment construction, graphic design and television and video production.
She said now, women are benefiting even more from the WIIN Business Clinics.
“Those clinics put in those women’s hands the ability to write business plans, the ability to register their business, the ability to be in contact with the Women Chamber of Commerce, in contact with NIS, GRA, the banks, all the people that they would need on their to becoming successful entrepreneurs, and in 2023, with all of that happening, we saw over 4,000 women benefiting from the WIND Programme. And you this means, in 2023, we want to exceed our target of 6,000 women,” Minister Persaud said in a virtual presentation.
The Human Services Minister said at no cost to them, more than 2000 women were empowered under the WIIN initiative in 2021.
Urging women to capitalize on the initiative, Persaud pointed out that in addition to the technical vocational training being offered, participants are certified by accredited institutions in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.
The application process, she said, is easy, and there are no requirements.
“All you have to do is apply. The application process is simple. We place emphasis on women and girls who are unemployed, who live in particularly vulnerable situations, and who have a desire to move from dependent states to independent states,” the Human Services Minister explained.
This year, the Human Services Ministry added two additional components to the Child Care Programme focusing on children with special needs and the fundamentals of early childhood development.
Minister Persaud said the intention is to have women form consortiums to provide Day, Night and Early Childhood Services.
Further, she said with the Government is injecting well over $300M into the Small Business Bureau, and women have an equal opportunity to access loans and grants to finance their businesses.
The Human Services Ministry is also providing Empowerment Fund Grants, already for 2023 more than 200 women have received financial assistance.
The Guyana Women and Girls Summit (GWAGS) is an annual event hosted by the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry Guyana.
It coincides with the celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD).
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