CSO programme: Rekindling hope, leadership and progress in Amerindian communities

In the heart of Guyana’s hinterland, a quiet but powerful movement is reshaping the future, one young leader at a time.

The Community Service Officer (CSO) programme, once dismantled and now thriving, is offering Amerindian youth more than just jobs, it’s giving them a sense of purpose, pride, and place in the nation’s development story.

Launched in 2013 under the PPP/C administration as part of the Youth Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurial Programme (YEAP), the CSO programme began with a simple but transformative idea: empower young people in remote and riverain communities with paid opportunities to serve and uplift their villages.

For many, the monthly stipend of $30,000 wasn’t just an income, it was dignity, mobility and a future.  

Nearly 2,000 persons were enlisted, and with them came renewed energy in the community spaces they served.

But that momentum came to a grinding halt after the 2015 general elections. The APNU+AFC coalition, in one of its first major policy reversals, axed the programme, claiming, without credible evidence, that CSOs were being used for political work.

The result? Entire communities lost not just services, but over $3.6 billion in economic circulation over five years.  

Despite warnings from the PPP/C about the fallout of this decision, the programme remained shelved until 2020. When the PPP/C returned to government, President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali made good on a campaign promise to bring back the CSO programme, bigger and stronger. And that’s exactly what happened.

Today, the CSO initiative is not just back, it’s flourishing. By 2022, 2,500 CSOs were back in action, and by June 2025, that number had risen to 2,759. The stipend was raised to $40,000. The programme now offers targeted training in critical areas like tourism, ICT, small engine repairs, tractor operators and garment construction, backed by a $60 million investment. 

These aren’t just statistics. These are lives being changed for the better.

Take Mahdia for example. Both its current Mayor and Deputy Mayor began their journeys as CSOs, proof that when young people are trusted with responsibility, they rise to meet it.

They are no longer just beneficiaries of government support; they are decision-makers, leaders and changemakers.

Yet, as with many successful efforts, the programme is not without detractors. Some are once again peddling the discredited claim that CSOs are being used for political ends. But this time, those on the ground are pushing back against this deceptive narrative.

“I’m not doing any dirty work,” says Ruvita Pio of Kurukabaru, a remote Amerindian village nestled in Region Eight’s North Pakaraimas. “I don’t think training is dirty work. We’re doing good things, like weeding around public buildings.

The CSO programme is more than a policy; it’s a statement. It says that young Amerindian citizens matter. That their work matters. That their future matters.

And this time, it will not be so easy to silence their voices.