Guyana strengthens equality efforts with gender budgeting

Guyana has introduced gender-responsive budgeting as a means of fostering gender equality, according to Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Arianna Beharry.
Beharry presented a comprehensive account of the government’s strategic initiatives while representing Guyana at the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
Her presentation, delivered at the 13th plenary meeting at the United Nations Headquarters, detailed the tangible progress made in fostering inclusive development, driving shared prosperity, and securing decent work opportunities for women.
Beharry affirmed that the government remains steadfast in its commitment to achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls, with the ministry spearheading efforts to strengthen social safety nets.
She highlighted innovative financing measures such as micro-financing programmes, grants for women entrepreneurs, and increased investment as part of these efforts.
“Over thirteen thousand women have benefited from economic empowerment programmes, which provide free training in conventional and unconventional technical vocational skills… geared towards breaking the cycle of poverty. Women are also seizing employment opportunities gained from free tertiary education, where they outnumber their male counterparts,” Beharry stated.
She added that public care infrastructure and childcare services have also proven effective in advancing women’s economic empowerment.
Just last month, she noted, 50 women completed the Ministry’s Early Childhood Development free training course and received cash grants to launch their home-based care systems.
Inclusive, accessible, and free technical vocational training programmes, along with a revolving fund, empower persons living with disabilities across Guyana to start their entrepreneurial ventures and actively participate in labour markets, Beharry emphasised.
“Guyana has also implemented social welfare programmes, including public and permanent disability assistance, which provide essential support for all citizens. Critical support is provided through universal health vouchers for all citizens, eye testing and spectacle vouchers for senior citizens and children, grants to newborn babies, free assistive aid care for persons with disabilities, and rent, shelter, food vouchers, and hampers for survivors of domestic violence,” she said.
According to Beharry, Guyana is actively working to close the digital gender divide by implementing digital literacy programmes aimed at empowering women and girls through skills training, improved access to technology for rural women, and policies designed to promote women’s leadership in emerging technological sectors.
She noted that there is also increasing participation in catering, and women are actively involved in crafting policies that address issues related to their well-being and equality, underscoring Guyana’s unwavering commitment to achieving gender equality.
Guyana reaffirms its commitment to providing innovative advancement opportunities for women and girls and enabling their effective participation and leadership in all sectors, Beharry concluded.