On Friday, First Lady Arya Ali handed out 15 fully funded scholarships to vulnerable women who came from two local NGOs (NGOs).
In a simple ceremony held at State House, the First Lady gave eight scholarships to women from ChildLink and seven scholarships to women from Help and Shelter, the Department of Public Information reported.
The scholarships will give women the opportunity to study and train at Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE) for one year and in some cases two years.

First Lady Arya Ali (seating center) and Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Public Services Soyinka Grogan (seated left) sign the Memorandum of Understanding as Public Services Minister Sonia Parag (bottom right) and representatives of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE) look ahead

The idea of ​​providing training opportunities for vulnerable women was birthed out of a meeting the First Lady had with the Principal and Vice-Principal of CSHE in November last year.
The beneficiaries of the scholarships are women who are considered to be particularly vulnerable because of the conditions in which they lived or are still living, and the fact that none have been able to complete the formal school system.
While the First Lady’s Office will fully fund the training, Ali sought the support of the Ministry of Public Services to provide a monthly allowance to cover the cost of transport, meals and uniforms.
To this end, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been initiated between the Office of the First Lady and the Ministry of Public Service to ensure that this commitment is fulfilled and that the Ministry, over the next four years, provides opportunities similar to women in need. .
“Guyana will start to develop rapidly and if opportunities are not provided fairly, it can lead to widening the gender gap,” the First Lady told the small group of NGO and CSHE representatives.
He said Guyanese must be aware of the fact that women are already disproportionately affected and that efforts must be doubled to ensure that they have the tools and resources necessary to improve their marketability and better integrated into the workforce.
“I am very happy to be able to give these women a window of opportunity to empower themselves and positively affect those around them,” the Lady is quoted by DPI as saying.
Also making brief comments was the Minister for Public Services, Sonia Parag, who expressed her willingness to support initiatives of this nature.
“I jumped at this opportunity to facilitate this activity specifically for the fact that these women will be empowered to the point of becoming independent. This is what we want to see in society; women are given opportunities and are treated equally, ”said the Minister.
As well as providing the monthly allowance for recipients this year, the Minister also pledged to ensure that yearly provisions are made for this category of women to benefit from similar opportunities through the Public Services Administration.
“I will not hesitate before 2022 to keep this initiative going,” he said.

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