Over $16M disbursed under WOW in 2012
More women continue to be empowered under the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s Women of Worth (WOW) initiative. A total of $16,424,000 was disbursed to various recipients under the programme in 2012, according to Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr. Jennifer Webster. There were 61 new beneficiaries in 2012.
Forty-nine persons obtained loans for endeavours in the area of clothing and garment, 288 for poultry enterprises, 32 for agriculture ventures, 110 for catering, 14 for operating their own bakery, 110 for cosmetology, 75 for retail clothing and vending, 12 for packaging spices for overseas export, and 14 each for leather craft and manufacturing bottled or packaged juice.
A successful WOW initiative
According to Minister Webster, there are plans to expand the programme this year to provide more opportunities for single parent women especially as it relates to helping the loan recipients to expand their business.
The ministry will seek to embark upon training for recipients and will also partner with them in a bid to find markets for their business produce.
Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Barcena at a financial forum in Trinidad and Tobago in 2011 lauded the Guyana Government for the scheme which she said was a laudable model and the region as a whole should follow suit.
Barcena said that the initiative which enables single parent women with opportunities to develop themselves economically is a form of “Inclusive Financing” by Government.
The WOW programme has a loan span from $100,000 to $250,000 at a minimal interest rate of six percent and a maximum repayment period of 24 months.
Region Five women uplifting applications for the Women of Worth scheme
The initiative was launched in June 2010 and caters for applicants between the ages of 18-60 years with an earning of up to $40,000 per month.
The WOW initiative is being implemented under a public private partnership, and in 2011, over 1,188 loans were granted to beneficiaries in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10, for investment in small businesses. Training programmes were also conducted and more than 400 single parents acquired the skills needed to become marketable and to improve their financial status.
Among the economic ventures that beneficiaries undertook were cash crop farming, poultry rearing, day care centres, hair dressing, and pharmaceutical and food processing.
