Minister outlines plans to improve lives of children, women and elderly

Jun 29, 2015 News

Government will be embarking on a holistic programme, to promote much needed measures that will support persons who are faced with challenging situations. This was told by Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence to the National Assembly on Friday, as she outlined Government’s plan to stem poverty in Guyana.
Minister Lawrence explained that the Social Protection Ministry has begun the process of restructuring and strengthening the various departments, filling long outstanding vacancies and prioritising all programmes.
Children’s welfare
Minister Lawrence announced that all the children’s homes will be refurbished to ensure the country’s children are placed in a homely setting, and “not one that will leave you with tears when you visit.”
During August, the Ministry will be opening a Probation and Child Welfare office on the East Bank of Demerara to facilitate the citizens residing in that area and on the Linden- Soesdyke Highway.
The Ministry is also exploring the establishment of a children’s home in Linden, Minister Lawrence said. “This, the people of Linden will tell you is at the top of their list, for our children who are taken off the streets or come in contact with the law must either remain at the police station for which there are no provisions, or at the Linden Hospital…this is not the way this Government will make provision for our children,” Minister Lawrence emphasised.
Elderly
The Palms will be demolished, and a new structure will be erected. However, Minister Lawrence noted that to erect a new building requires a significant amount of financing, but the ministry will plan for it.
It will also be looking at new methods of payment for pensioners, and public assistance recipients.
Moreover, Government’s commitment to the opening of a Legal Aid Clinic in the Mining town of Linden will be realised.
Women
Also to be realised is the Government’s commitment to building a half-way home for women, Minister Lawrence, said. ”It is our intention to ensure that those persons who seek shelter at our various homes are assessed and given second chances through the use of the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration,” she further noted.
In keeping with the new administration’s commitment to support families, the ministry is forging ahead to undertake a national mapping of social issues, and will be preparing a strategy to address these, and ultimately develop a plan of action involving national stakeholders.
“It has become clear and worrying, the despicable way under which womenfolk exist, the daily struggles they face in an attempt to combat domestic abuse, Trafficking in Persons, and the dire financial constraints which leave them in the hands of unscrupulous exploiters. In the same vein, we witness the way in which the elderly are treated and deprived of social amenities. Youths are just as vulnerable,” Minister Lawrence pointed out.
She said that youths need to be mobilised for entrepreneurial purposes, and policies need to be implemented for the development for women and the elderly.
Trade Unions
In order to fully address the needs of workers, there has to be the re-establishment of a cordial relationship with trade unions, and according to the Minister, this process has already begun. Recently, the Minister met with leaders of several unions to discuss workers’ rights and welfare.
“We cannot divorce them from the social process, thus the intention to revise relevant labour legislation and to support all legally constituted and functioning trade unions so that they can better represent workers’ rights, cannot but augur well for the labour movement,” she said, while expressing gratitude to the National Assembly for restoring the annual subvention to the Critchlow Labour College.
The ministry has already removed the ban on the limitation and inspection by Labour Officers, to places of employment, and is also working to establish two units, namely a Public Relations and a Statistical Department, to allow the public to become au fait with the work and assistance offered by the ministry.
The ministry has been entrusted with the responsibility of governing and protecting the rights and interest of the Guyanese nation, irrespective of race, creed colour, situation or circumstance.

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Minister outlines plans to improve lives of children, women and elderly

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