29.I.1 Although the 1999 Household Income and Expenditure Survey indicated a marked reduction in poverty since 1993, the incidence of poverty in Guyana is still unacceptably high. The survey revealed that 36.4 percent of the population in Guyana lives in absolute poverty, and 19.1 percent exists in a state of critical poverty.

29.I.2 The highest incidences of poverty are in the hinterland areas of Regions 1, 7, 8, and 9. On the coast, poverty is highest in the rural areas particularly in regions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. And although a greater number of the population in the cities is better off than those in other parts of the country, there are also large pockets of poverty in urban locations.

29.I.3 Moreover, about half of the population of the workforce are not gainfully employed. However, only 9.1 of the total workforce has sought, but has not obtained, employment and can therefore be classified as being unemployed.

29.II.1 No individual factor, or list of factors, can be singled out as the cause of poverty. Poverty in Guyana is occasioned by an interlocking complex of policies and actions. To adjust or even fundamentally change one or two of them will not necessarily overcome the problem or reduce its incidence. Poverty in Guyana must therefore be attacked simultaneously from several directions.

29.II.2 It is perhaps interesting to note, at the outset, that the high level of poverty in the interior is due in most part to its remoteness: high transportation costs, and the absence of most modern amenities make living in these areas extremely expensive. It is almost impossible to obtain the most basic of goods and services.

29.II.3 In 1993, the very poor were identified as being located mainly in the hinterland, while the not-so-poor were to be found in both the rural and urban coastal areas. By 1999, there had been little or no change in the hinterland, and Amerindian poverty, according to the HIES, remained at about the same level at which it was in 1993. On the coast, however, the incidence of poverty declined in both the rural and urban areas, with the greater improvement occurring in the towns.

29.II.4 This is most surprising for the growth in our economy between 1993 and 1999 was based almost entirely on increased production in sugar and rice (rural coastal crops), and in timber and gold (interior products.) It is true that there was some growth in the manufacturing sector, but this was not significant enough to account for the quantum leap from poverty which took place in the urban areas.

29.II.5 The conclusion is almost inescapable that the urban sea-change had little or nothing to do with official economic policy, but was largely a result of parallel, non-official activities. In short, the influence of our macro-policies on poverty eradication was by no means considerable.

29.II.6 Indeed, the ERP and its successor policies were primarily designed to improve fiscal performance through curtailing expenditure, reforming the tax system, allowing the market to establish the exchange rate, reducing tariffs and removing import restrictions. They were not intended to make any serious impact on the rate of poverty in our country. Poverty was meant to be cushioned by organisations such as SIMAP. It may be concluded, therefore, that although the ERP has been most successful at the macroeconomic level, it has not been effective in respect of poverty eradication.

29.II.7 In addition to the inadequacies of the macroeconomic policies, the evidence strongly suggests that the presence of poverty is associated with low levels of productivity, and that there is a direct link between rates of productivity on the one hand, and the levels of education, the nutritional status of our citizens, and their access to health facilities on the other. Also, in those areas in which productivity is low, and where access to education and health facilities is minimal, the housing situation is often perilous. The deficiencies in these areas have already been described in the chapters of this NDS that are devoted to Education, to Health, and to Housing.

29.II.8 It cannot be over-emphasised that low productivity retards the rate of economic growth, reduces our competitiveness in the global world, and therefore limits our opportunity to create new jobs and to provide essential and basic services to the poor.

29.II.9 There are, of course, other policies, practices and situations which have been dealt with in detail in several sectoral chapters of this report which contribute to the high incidence of poverty in Guyana. Among these are the difficulty of obtaining credit; the relatively high cost of credit; the practice of the Banks to buy treasury bills rather than to invest themselves or lend money to potential investors; the small size of the average agricultural holding; the obsolescent nature of our land tenure system and our land laws; the inefficiency of the drainage and irrigation system, etc.

29.III.1 The social safety nets which exist in the country that are intended to minimise the effects of poverty have not worked optimally. We refer primarily to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), the Social Impact Amelioration Programme (SIMAP), and some NGOs.

29.III.2 The coverage of the NIS, as currently structured, is not comprehensive enough for it to be a major poverty eradication agency. For example, it does not embrace unemployment, and it excludes groups that are outside the work force (school leavers, women at home, and many in the informal sector). Because of its occupationalist bias it can offer relief to the poor only if it deliberately introduces redistributive features. This it seems to be either reluctant or unable to do. Moreover, the NIS places a cap on insurable earnings. This obviously restricts the growth of its funds.

29.III.3 SIMAP’s functional activities may be classified as being either the rehabilitation and construction of infrastructure, or the provision of social services. Occasionally, both types of activity are combined in one location, if not in one project. The former covers a wide cross section: roads, schools, markets, health centres, sanitation, water supply, and drainage and irrigation. The latter is also all-embracing, covering medical supplies, nutrition, food supplementation, education and training as well as cash transfers to targeted groups such as low-wage public servants, mothers and children who visit health centres, poor pensioners, and so on.

29.III.4 Although SIMAP is meant to be a bottom up demand-driven agency, many of its activities seem to be decided by the agency itself, and not in consultation with the ultimate beneficiaries. Moreover, it does not often take a sufficiently integrative approach to development. In addition, perhaps from the time of its establishment, it is perceived by some as Government’s "pork barrel". And finally, the agency has been the victim of conflicting donor priorities and project conditionalities. For an agency that funds itself largely within a well-defined project cycle, this has negatively affected its capacity to implement.

29.III.5 Data on NGOs in Guyana are very sparse. There may, however, be more than 500 NGOs in the country. The amount of human, financial and material resources in their control is not, however, known. The majority are the traditional service, charitable, religious, cultural and recreationally-oriented organisations. Only a few are principally engaged in developmental work although, in one way or another, the activities of all of them impinge on the development process. Overall, they are involved in a wide range of poverty relief actions, from training to cash supplements, medical care, and feeding programmes. The sector has the potential for strong grassroots links, flexibility, and minimal bureaucratic overheads. Most important, it possesses a highly motivated work force.

29.III.6 A few limitations and weakness can, however, be identified in the national NGO sector in Guyana: very few of the NGOs are self-supporting in a significant way and, because of the structure of party politics in the country, a frequent complaint is that political elements have penetrated community-based organisations.

29.III.7 In summary, the NIS, SIMAP, and the NGOs, the social safety nets in the country, have not made as significant contributions as they might to the amelioration of poverty in Guyana. It is evident that the NIS and SIMAP ought to be radically restructured so that they might more effectively serve the poor.

29.IV.1 The donor agencies’ apparent preference for visible and tangible projects as a measure of progress may be responsible for the overemphasis on engineering and construction projects. Although these types of project assist the poor in some respects, they do not always absorb significant amounts of labour. They certainly do not significantly reduce the incidence of poverty either in the medium or in the long term.

29.IV.2 Donor agencies also seem to prefer to utilise the private sector in executing poverty programmes, and pay their workers more than the local and central governments. This sometimes creates difficulties for projects that are run by the Government.

29.IV.3 The restricted access by certain communities to persons and organisations who would articulate and advocate their needs has worked to their disadvantage in obtaining resources for poverty eradication. Two examples are the Amerindians communities (although this is changing rapidly) and those who live in the deprived urban areas.

29.IV.4 Poverty relief programmes with a short life span, i.e., programmes which are not sustainable, often create difficulties of adjustment for beneficiaries, when they come to an end.

29.IV.5 Given the geography of the country and its population settlement patterns, there is a high overhead charge attached to poverty reduction programmes.

29.V.1 The objective is to eradicate poverty from Guyana by 2010. By this is meant that in ten years everyone in the country will be above the poverty line. Put in another way, the objective is that by 2010, every individual or family in Guyana would be able to afford, or to provide themselves with, the basic necessities of life. In a very profound sense this is not a sectoral, but a national objective.

29.V.2 The specific supporting objectives are:-

• Provide effective relief from the immediate deprivation suffered by the poor in respect of basic necessities such as nutrition, health care, schooling, housing, and potable water so that they may be freed from intensive concern in these areas and be able to devote their energies more fully to activities that improve their lives economically, socially, politically and culturally.
• Empower the poor, especially women, and integrate them more fully into the total development process so that they may improve their situations through their own efforts, thus reducing their dependence on special benefits.
• Create and expand opportunities for entrepreneurship, self-employment and employment at a living wage.

• Enhance the capabilities of the working-age poor, especially in terms of education and training, to respond to such opportunities.
• Improve the conditions of supply of basic social services to poor households, whilst maintaining them at affordable levels for that group.
• Provide financial support and basic food supplies to the poorest.
• Improve the access of the rural poor to land, working capital, and agricultural and other technologies and markets.
• Improve the conditions of assistance to the aged and mentally and physically handicapped, and identify and implement ways for them to participate in productive endeavours.

29.VI.1 The grand strategy is:-

1. to devise and implement macro-economic policies which, while maintaining monetary and economic stability, provide a sufficiency of fiscal and other incentives to enable the economy to grow rapidly; and are specifically directed towards the eradication of poverty in targeted areas and among targeted groups;
2. to ensure that there be put in place and implemented a complex of public policies; e.g.

   - institutional reforms which would cover all the ministries and departments in the Public Service and parastatal organisations;

   - land reform (including the small sizes of land holdings of the rural poor);

   - the rationalisation of the processes for land distribution and land registration for both agriculture and housing;

   - the introduction of more transparent and equitable systems of land distribution for both land and housing;

   - credit reform, particularly with respect to the availability of credit for the development of small-scale enterprises and small-scale farming, and for mortgages for low-income housing;

   - the reform of the health and education sectors in order to increase the quality of health services and education that are provided to the poor, and to improve their access to them, paying particular attention to the development, in the education sector, of skills for artisans and technicians; and

   - the improvement of the effectiveness and competitiveness of the private sector;

3. to diversify the economy in order to reduce our dependency on only a few commodities;
4. to add value to our export products;
5. to develop policies for export promotion;
6. to intensify the recruitment of professional and technical staff in such disciplines as policy analysis, engineering, computer science, and technology, accounting, science, various specifications in agriculture and forestry;
7. to construct a road network to permit the easier development of areas away from the coast and to unify the country by linking the coastland to all regions, with a complex of roads and bridges;
8. to develop water transport and port facilities; and
9. to provide safety nets to cushion the effects of this transformation of economic policy, i.e., for those who are not, and would not be, immediately benefited by the development process, and for those who for structural reasons are unable to participate fully in that process, e.g., the disabled and the poor.

29.VI.2 It might perhaps be necessary at this stage to stress again that while much of the content of a policy framework for poverty eradication should be devoted to specific actions that directly assist needy groups, it is essential that the framework should build on the fact that, by a large margin, the most effective way to reduce and eventually eliminate poverty is to promote rapid economic growth. Sustained rapid growth expands employment opportunities substantially and raises real earnings levels.

29.VI.3 It must, however, be recognised that there are different styles of growth. It is therefore important to encourage a channeling of growth into those sectors that provide the most widespread benefits to the population. This typically means the labour-intensive sectors.

29.VI.4 An important factor in the overall strategy would be a larger participatory role for civil society, including the NGOs, and a more articulated working relationship between the State and the various components of civil society for the implementation of major programmes. Civil society should be empowered by transferring some of the State’s responsibilities to it whenever appropriate.

29.VI.5 Given that the resources that are available for any kind of programme are always limited by budgetary realities, the ability truly to assist the poor depends in large measure on effectively targeting the measures for poverty eradication on the groups that are the most needy. There are two dimensions to this question: more precise selection of the families and individuals that should receive designated social benefits, and, changing generalised subsidies into targeted subsidies.

29.VI.6 In the first case, improvements are required in the implementation of eligibility criteria for SIMAP projects, food assistance and other forms of public assistance. This prescription applies to communities as much as individuals. SIMAP projects should be located where they are most needed, not where they are easiest to implement.

29.VI.7 In the second case, policy making and implementation should be informed by an appreciation of the fact that many of the current interventions constitute generalised subsidies, conveying benefits to upper income strata as well as lower. In keeping with priorities for public expenditure, the cost savings realised by eliminating generalised subsidies can be applied to subsidies that are targeted on the groups requiring support. The generalised subsidies, although often implicit, are frequently pervasive. They include a component of transport tariffs, hospital charges, educational fees (or lack thereof), water charges, and other fees for public services. For administrative reasons, it is not possible to convert all of these implicit subsidies into outlays or savings that apply only to the lower income groups, but some progress in this direction can be made once an awareness of the issue and its pervasiveness has developed. The strategies that are directly relevant to this policy are described in the chapters on Health, Education, Housing, and Amerindians.

29.VI.8 Females represent more than 50 percent of the population, but from the available evidence, poverty is a major condition of this social group and, particularly, the large group of female-headed households. A set of socio-cultural and economic disabilities, together with inadequacies in the legal framework governing their integration and participation in society has, in addition, exacerbated the historical marginalisation of women. This strategy must, therefore specifically include measures to redress the problems of the female population in every sector, and in every location of the country. These too have been described in great detail in the chapters on the Family and on Gender.

29.VI.9 Although these considerations have been discussed in some detail in this National Development Strategy, they will again be adumbrated here, in order to provide to the reader, in one place, a comprehensive package of the poverty eradication framework.

29.VI.10 Economic Policy

29.VI.10.1 As we had stressed, it would be extremely difficult to eradicate poverty if the economy did not grow. Accordingly, while maintaining stability, fiscal measures will be put in place:-

- to diversify the economy;

- to increase investment, particularly in those geographical areas in the cities, in the country-side, and in the hinterland that are economically and socially depressed;

- to encourage investment in ventures that are labour-intensive;

- to increase the amount of revenue available to the State through the replacement of the consumption tax by a value added tax;

- to shift investment more to production than to commerce by reducing the corporate taxes on productive enterprises;

- to encourage the banking system to devote more of their resources to investment lending rather than to the purchase of treasury bills;

- to reduce the duty to zero on most imported raw materials; and

- to simplify the tax system to enable more revenue to be collected.

29.VI.11.1 Within the general policy of providing credit to Guyana’s producers, measures will be put in place to ensure adequate financing for small-scale rice and other agricultural producers. In this regard, the possibility of group lending, in which farmers guarantee each other’s loans, will be explored.

29.VI.11.2 Micro-credit schemes will be established in order to assist in the development of the agricultural sector in general. The focus will be on those rural areas and rural citizens, or groups of citizens, identified in the HIES as being deprived and below the poverty line.

29.VI.11.3 The general strategy to make available investment funds for micro-enterprises will embrace fishermen who are not owners of their boats and wish to purchase them.

29.VI.11.4 Credit agencies will be sensitised to farmers’ financial requirements by extending their outreach programmes into rural communities and will also introduce systems of lending via small loan schemes for farmers without collateral.

29.VI.11.5 Special micro-enterprise schemes will be established particularly for the urban and for the hinterland poor. In addition to the advancing of credit, technical assistance will be provided in project formulation, accountancy, management, and various other skills.

29.VI.11.6 In order to manage and monitor effectively this very important plank in our policy on poverty eradication, a special unit, the Micro-credit Division, will be established in the Ministry of Finance or in the National Development Strategy Authority to ensure that the poor are professionally and effectively assisted.

29.VI.12.1 Many of the rural poor occupy land that is leased from the Government. They are, however, unable to obtain loans because such lands cannot be used as collateral. Lessees who have beneficially occupied the same plot of land for a period of more than fifteen years will be allowed to convert to freehold.

29.VI.12.2 Land up to a maximum area will be granted free of charge to the rural poor (defined as families with incomes below the poverty line).

29.VI.12.3 The duration of agricultural leases will be extended to 99 years, and the conditions will specifically include the right to put the land up as collateral.

29.VI.13.1 Land for housing will be granted free of charge to all those below the poverty line.

29.VI.13.2 A pilot housing micro-credit programme with IPED will be organised to finance basic home improvements, for the lowest income groups.

29.VI.13.3 Government will accelerate its programme of supplying serviced lots to needy families, with priority being given to those who participate in cooperative ventures which will assist with the labours of construction and the obtention of building supplies. Such lots will be transported in freehold to the beneficiaries, with mortgages extended through the NBS, and with the financial assistance of a special fund for supplementing mortgage payments.

29.VI.13.4 The current criteria for the allocation of housing lots will be revised to accommodate the poor, unemployed youths, and female-household heads.

29.VI.13.5 A number of townships will be established to assist in the resettlement of the poor, along with other groups. The provision of free serviced land and other facilities will be integral aspects of this land settlement scheme.

29.VI.13.6 The situation of squatters, who are mainly poor, will be regularised, so that they may improve the conditions of their shelter and receive the basic infrastructure to which all citizens are entitled. If they occupy Stateland, they will be provided with freehold titles.

29.VI.13.7 A National Housing Trust, based on a payroll tax, will be established. The funds so mobilised will be channelled through a private sector that will be challenged to provide affordable low-income housing through technological innovation.

29.VI.13.8 There will be a resuscitation of the self-help schemes which have contributed so much to housing development in the 1960s and early 1970s. Some of the lots for such self-help schemes will be allocated free to those below the poverty line. Self-help communities that are organised for the construction of houses for those below the poverty line will be provided with duty-free materials, when it is necessary to import them.

29.VI.14.1 The inefficiencies in the educational system directly affect the quality of the graduates from the schools, and often drive them below the poverty line. Accordingly,

- the share of the national budget allocated to education will be raised continuously from the present level of 14 percent to 20 percent by 2005, and will be sustained at or above that level for the rest of the decade;

- the percentage of primary teachers who are professionally trained will be increased annually so that the proportion of trained teachers by the year 2010 will be at least 75 percent;

- eighty percent of all teachers will be trained by 2010; and

- the number of trained graduate teachers will be increased by 50 percent over the same period;

29.VI.14.2 Financing strategies will be evolved that will require those who can afford to pay for certain aspects of education at all levels to do so. Such strategies will enable the better targeting of educational expenditure on needy students.

29.VI.14.3 There will be an attack on illiteracy from multiple points, including the testing for illiteracy levels and the building in of remedial programmes well in advance of CXC examinations. The elimination of illiteracy will be the premier priority for the first decade of the 21^st century.

29.VI.14.4 Assistance from external donors and local NGOs will be utilised to strengthen school-feeding programmes so that virtually all primary schools will be covered.

29.VI.14.5 The location of new schools and the rationalisation of existing schools will be informed by data gathered in a recently completed School Mapping Exercise and by norms established in the new Education Act and regulations. In this way those vulnerable geographical areas that have been identified in the HIES, in which the poor reside, and which do not have adequate school buildings and effective school facilities, will be serviced. This applies to the urban, rural and hinterland regions.

29.VI.14.6 Scholarships will be provided to needy students (i.e. students below the poverty line), at the tertiary level. The student loan scheme will be maintained for all others.

29.VI.14.7 In consultation with GUYSUCO, the facilities offered at their technical institutions will be remodelled in order to provide training to a wider cross-section of students than is now being catered for. Special emphasis will be given to short courses in rural areas on topics that have the potential to enhance the income of farmers, and those other activities for which micro-credit will be provided.

29.VI.14.8 The geographical coverage of the TCET system will be widened and made more accessible to rural/hinterland communities.

29.VI.15.1 The Ministry of Health will be restructured to reflect the decentralisation of service delivery and to improve its effectiveness. This will help the poor in many of the rural areas, and in all the hinterland districts.

29.VI.15.2 Adequate incentives will be developed to stimulate the service of health personnel in the hinterland.

29.VI.15.3 In order to ease the problems of staffing, all persons trained by the Government in medical disciplines and in other related fields will be asked to serve in an interior location for two years.

29.VI.15.4 The training of local people, such as community health workers, has already been proved to be successful. Such training schemes will be strengthened and extended to other extension personnel, such as Medex and Dentex. Outreach activities will be further expanded to increase access to health services in remote areas.

29.VI.15.5 Hospitals that are currently underutilised will be closed. Funds saved in this way will be made available to upgrade facilities in the interior and rural areas; to establish more health posts in remote areas; to provide a fleet of ambulances and other transport facilities; to ensure that radio communication networks are available to all localities; and to finance an expansion of a programme of rotating visits.

29.VI.15.6 Cost recovery mechanisms will be established, but will not be directed to financing the health requirements of the vulnerable.

29.VI.15.7 A social assessment system to determine eligibility to exemptions will be established. Until such a system is in place, means assessments will be carried out at public health facility level.

29.VI.15.8 Within a system of selective fees for medical services, cost recovery will never hinder access to health care and no patient will be refused service because of the inability to pay fees.

29.VI.15.9 The government will further develop a health insurance scheme as a supplementary financing option.

29.VI.15.10 An extensive review of the NIS and a corresponding reform programme will be developed, in order to improve its actuarial basis and strengthen its performance as a provider of social health benefits.

29.VI.15.11 All health centres will be equipped with a phone or radio for emergency calls and all hospitals will have adequate power generation supplies. These will be extremely important in the rural and interior districts.

29.VI.15.12 The programmes of rotating visits to the remotest facilities by physicians will be strengthened, so that villagers would know in advance when a doctor would be in the nearest health centre, for example, on specified days of the month.

29.VI.15.13 Inequalities in access to health care are of particular burden to the poorest of our citizens. The Ministry of Health will examine ways to improve the provision and delivery of services to these groups. The health needs of vulnerable groups are concentrated in the areas of nutritional problems, poor environmental health, vector-borne diseases and sexually transmitted diseases. Hence a health development strategy centred on the objectives of primary health care and health promotion will be designed and implemented to address the needs of the most vulnerable.

29.VI.15.14 Action plans which address the health needs of each vulnerable group and details the action to be taken as well as the institutional responsibilities will be prepared through processes of national consultation, involving all major social actors.

29.VI.15.15 Besides the preparation of ‘basic packages’ of services targeting Primary Health Care interventions, to be made accessible to the entire population, the Ministry of Health will design extra basic packages for needy groups. The institutional responsibilities for the delivery of such packages will be assigned through a process of consultation.

29.VI.15.16 Financing mechanisms, including those for cost recovery, will not be implemented unless they are accompanied by exemption policies and mechanisms targeting the most needy (the elderly, disabled, etc.), other categories of the medically indigent, and the poor (e.g.,: the employed poor, who are still below the poverty line; the unemployed; single-parent or single-earner households; the homeless; and youths with no formal education and no job).

29.VI.15.17 Special health needs of vulnerable groups will be identified and attributed adequate priority. For example, the availability of drugs and access to physicians for the elderly, currently poor, is essential for the wellbeing of this vulnerable category.

29.VI.15.18 Monitoring the nutritional status of the most vulnerable groups will be undertaken on a regular basis.

29.VI.16.1 Systems will be put in place to ensure that Amerindians have access to credit. In addition, postal agencies equipped to deal with savings accounts will be expanded, in order to allow Amerindian populations to secure their savings.

29.VI.16.2 Government will provide technical assistance to Amerindian communities in the formulation of development projects, and in negotiating the financing of such projects with private commercial banks.

29.VI.16.3 Special consideration (salaries, incentive packages, other benefits) will be given to both hinterland and coastland government personnel working in the Public Service in Amerindian communities.

29.VI.16.4 A communications network integrating telephone/ telecommunication systems, roads, airstrips, improved river and sea communication and mass communication systems, will be developed in order to ensure that Amerindian/hinterland communities are in contact both with each other and with the coastland areas.

29.VI.16.5 An Amerindian Development Fund will be established to support efforts that are required to develop and enhance the quality of life in Amerindian communities. A special tax will be levied for this purpose. Monies obtained from this tax will be paid in to the Development Fund. Guidelines for the utilization of the resources of this Fund will be formulated.

29.VI.16.6 Teachers based in Amerindian communities will pursue special training courses conducted by the Ministry of Education. Such orientation courses will be structured in order to expose candidate teachers to the social and economic environment in which they would be required to operate. The curricula for such courses will be prepared by experts in Amerindian culture and other relevant disciplines. Teachers will not be certified to teach in the interior unless they are successful in these courses. The course will be geographically sensitive, e.g. a teacher to be moved from the Rupununi to the North West will be required to take a short course on the culture of the native community in that area. Although such courses will undoubtedly lengthen the period of training required to equip a teacher to work in Amerindian areas, they are considered necessary because of the importance attached to imparting environmental relevance to Amerindian education. In any event, teachers who successfully undertake the course will be compensated by additional emoluments and perquisites.

29.VI.16.7 Preparatory training courses will be offered for Amerindians who do not have the entrance requirements to enter higher institutions of education. These courses will be as wide in scope as necessary to prepare students to enter any stream of their choice.

29.VI.16.8 As a longer term solution to the problem of inadequate preparation of Amerindian students, more secondary schools will be built and staffed in the interior.

29.VI.16.9 Amerindians will participate in the formulation of curricula which will not only be appropriate to the unique requirements of their communities, but will also equip them with skills that are relevant to hinterland development. In addition, the curricula will prepare them for further education and training outside their communities, and facilitate their involvement and integration into the society at large. Curricula for Amerindian students will be specialized and geographically sensitive, and will require special coordination between the Ministry of Education and the communities. Language will be seen as an integral part of the education of Amerindian children and corresponding curricula will be developed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, and the Amerindian Research Unit.

29.VI.16.10 Land claims for Amerindians, in areas where Amerindians are located, will be settled before forest concessions are awarded.

29.VI.16.11 Government will institute a coherent system of vector control taking into account locations such as mining and forestry camps, border crossing points, and the Amerindian communities themselves.

29.VI.16.12 Government will begin a health education programme which emphasizes preventive measures and traditional Amerindian medicine, and recognises the position of traditional Amerindian healers.

29.VI.16.13 The training of all health workers in Amerindian communities will be periodically upgraded, and a living wage paid to all of them.

29.VI.16.14 Physical plant and equipment in the cottage and regional hospitals in the interior will be modernised and maintained, and adequate and reliable supplies of medication assured.

29.VI.17 Transportation

29.VI.17.1 There will be established in Guyana, within the next ten years, a road network which would link the coastal regions to all the hinterland areas of the country. As a result, physical access to the gamut of social services will be made to the poor wherever they are located, the difficulties that are now encountered in recruiting personnel to work in the interior districts will be reduced to a great extent, and in general there will be a freer flow of citizens goods and services throughout the country. In many respects, the construction of such a unifying road network is the key to our attack on poverty in Guyana. Indeed, the proposed infrastructural development would make feasible investment in locations which might other wise have been considered to be too remote, increase the number of job opportunities, and raise the living standards of the indigent throughout the country.

29.VI.17.2 All the airstrips in the interior will be rehabilitated and maintained.

29.VI.18.1 Many of the strategies which have been put forward for the nation as a whole embrace, of course, the family and its members. However, there are a few which are "poor-family" specific. These are listed below.

29.VI.18.2 Government will implement schemes for the development of innovative housing arrangements for low-income single-parent households, and for senior citizens and people with disabilities.

29.VI.18.3 More children’s homes will be provided for abandoned children.

29.VI.18.4 Career guidance will become an important aspect of the country’s educational system. Particular attention will be paid to linking the training of the poor to employment opportunities which have arisen as a result of the implementation of this NDS.

29.VI.18.5 There will be organised apprenticeship programmes at the central and local levels to prepare youths for employment.

29.VI.18.6 A Welfare System, centering specifically for the elderly, will be established.

29.VI.18.7 Housing for seniors and people with disabilities within new and existing communities will be established at subsidised rentals for those with low incomes.

29.VI.18.8 The NIS’s medical care benefits will be continued after retirement, since this is when illness most often occurs and assistance needed.

29.VI.19.1 As with the other sections, the general provisions in the NDS will significantly assist in improving the lot of women, particularly of the poor woman. However, some specific strategies will be listed here.

29.VI.19.2 Remunerative employment opportunities for women will be created through a combination of policies to improve economic growth.

29.VI.19.3 Women will be facilitated to enter the market through the institution of flexible work conditions, the provision of credit for a variety of self-employment opportunities, and the establishment of day care centres, etc.

29.VI.19.4 Women’s access to credit will be enhanced by establishing grass-roots credit schemes.

29.VI.19.5 A national women’s credit institution which will meet the credit needs of low income women who often find themselves excluded from formal credit because of collateral requirements, will be established.

29.VI.19.6 There will be an expansion of SIMAP’s money supplements to women; an expansion of nutrition programmes; and increased access to safer drinking water.

29.VI.19.7 Women will be trained in non-traditional and more highly paid trades. Apart from direct provision, financial inducements, such as career development loans, will be offered for women to attend non-traditional vocational training institutions.

29.VI.19.8 The compliance of corporations, local and foreign, with national laws and codes governing the rights and benefits of women workers will be ensured.

29.VI.19.9 Women, (including teenage mothers) returning to the educational system after pregnancy or child raising will be assisted by providing grants or loans to them, as well as formal and informal back-to-school and on-the-job training programmes.

29.VI.19.10 Special efforts to institutionalise the training of women for specific jobs in specific areas will be made.

29.VI.20.1 The central logic of sustainable human development rests on inclusive participation as the primary means of ensuring that all members of society are given access to economic opportunities, material resources, and the requisite capacities to benefit equitably from the development process. It seeks to reduce the level of exclusion of the poorest sections by working to integrate them into the productive sections, and to open access to social services.

29.VI.20.2 Its fundamental argument is that the eradication of poverty entails the active and direct involvement of all sections of society, and the mobilisation of the gamut of civil society interests in regard to decision-making, the preparation of project proposals, their administration and monitoring, and the dissemination of information. It aims to ensure the sustainability of efforts, and to take advantage of traditional practices and indigenous technologies, where appropriate, even as it strengthens community consciousness and cohesiveness and reinforces the inclusive approach to democratic governance.

29.VI.20.3 This National Development Strategy, particularly the areas which are focused on poverty eradication, has been formulated in a participatory manner. Every group in society or their representatives, has been consulted on every topic. Their advice, their hopes, and their aspirations, have been included in these proposals. However, merely to put forward a strategy for development is not enough. What is important is for the strategy to be implemented.

29.VI.20.4 Accordingly, a National Development Strategy Commission, with adequate provisions, will be established in order to oversee the implementation of this Strategy, particularly those aspects of it which impinge upon, and are relevant to, the eradication of poverty. In addition it will review public policies for their equity and sustainability; and coordinate national dialogue on, and public participation in, the development of strategies to permit equitable and sustainable development. It will be an independent civil society organisation comprising the trades unions, the private sector, NGOs, and other civil society individuals and organisations. It will, however, establish the closest links with the government, the donor community, and international NGOs. Its emphasis will be on consensual and non-partisan operations. Its establishment is vital to the attainments of the targets which have been laid down in this Strategy.