AFC Social Protection Broad Policy Plan

Dear Editor,

The Alliance for Change (AFC) social protection policy plan to target the 48% of Guyanese who are living in poverty and exclusion includes cash transfers and targeted payments to groups classified as “poor” “very poor” and “extremely poor.” Cash transfers will deal with structural problems in deprived societies in attacking long term poverty by making payments to ensure school attendance and participation in health care, in effect strengthening human capital as a joint responsibility between government and families.

The broad policy plan will include:

1. Target groups based on “self-declared” household income- people will not be excluded by lack of evidence of formal income, given that approximately half of Guyanese are living in transient and absolute poverty. Empirical studies from the IDB and the FAO confirms poverty-stricken communities with families skipping one meal a day to survive, respectively.Added to this locally, the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC) reported that basic food items have increased to 75 % over the last four years. A simple random survey (community engagements) via AFC’s travels across Guyana including improvised communities and far-flung mountainous terrain correlates there exists a highly unequal Guyana- the complaint echoes – “the rich is getting richer;” the poor is getting poorer” – the resounding question is deafening – “where is the oil money?” This sad reality of citizens’ literally scraping a living in oil rich Guyana is untenable- citizens must know that the government is only the custodian of the oil revenues and with an average GYD1.5 billion revenue a day, more than half the population is improvised.
2. An immediate policy intervention will be synergies that are complementary at the family level in schooling, health/nutrition-cash payments for school attendance, children vaccination and participation in vocational training courses. Given that the UNICEF report reveals that our children are suffering from ‘wasting’ a child malnutrition condition, shamelessly topping the charts in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is common knowledge that childhood nutrition affects cognitive learning and there is a plausible correlation between poverty, learning outcomes and the attendant high school dropout rate in our most vulnerable communities.
3. The inclusion of groups such as street dwellers that are becoming more populated in the city; the differently abled that needs more resourced programmes for equitable participation in education and job opportunities; and indigenous people who are not easily reached because of far flung mountainous terrain. Some inclusionary social protection programmes are indigenous trained doctors in built villages’ hospitals to limit fatalities in childbearing, chronic illness and medical emergencies that are air dashed to the city; Train indigenous teachers with more built schools, for instance, the village of Waramodong in the upper Mazaruni accommodates students from 6 villages; and an indigenous curriculum in tandem with the environment which is a means for economic survival.

In this context, the Alliance for Change Social Protection Plan include “keeping people out of poverty”  with social insurance such as livelihood diversification; rural credit; microfinance which provide relief  by supporting long run growth with income generating activities; And “lifting people out of poverty,” with social assistance such as, targeted/general cash, conditional cash, mother to child health programs and subsided agriculture inputs which deal with more structural problems of poverty, vulnerability and food insecurity in the 50 percent poor communities across Guyana.

The policy reach is an attempt to end the vicious cycle of intergenerational transmission of poverty in poor households. One of its outcomes is to have the younger generations equipped to realise their innovative and creative ability. Surely, they deserve to navigate careers in Guyana’s economic boom and with reference to plantation fields, where job opportunities are limited, to study agriculture as a science beyond manual labour; and not have succeeding generations void of innovative career potential because of political greed.  The family grant will be institutionalised under a department to fight against poverty and include the indigenous people who are often excluded by lack of decentralised government services in interior locations. This policy action will ensure a fair share of Guyana’s oil wealth.

Yours truly,
Dianna Rajcumar
Candidate, Alliance for Change