WOW being extended to hinterland communities

Georgetown, GINA, August 10, 2016

Indigenous women will be given another opportunity to upgrade their economic standing with the introduction of the Women of Worth (WOW) microcredit initiative to the hinterland regions.

This programme has been benefitting coastlanders for several years; however, it is the ministry’s intention to ensure that women in the outlying areas have the opportunity to access loans to expand income generating projects.

During an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence explained that a number of single parent women and women’s group in the hinterland have already submitted proposals and the Ministry is in the process of reviewing them.

“…What has happened is that we have had several beneficiaries, but they are from the coastland, so we are going to move the staff into the outlying areas so that they can reach other women in those areas so that we can spread it around…they have already been to Region Nine and there are four women there who qualified for the loan and what we have to now look at are those women who applied through groups,” Minister Lawrence pointed out.

This process will officially begin in September. Minister Lawrence said the loan officers will be going into the hinterland communities to engage the women on the project, and work with them to ensure they are viable.

The WOW Programme empowers single parent women to take advantage of the economic opportunities around them, and so increase their participation in society. The sum of $40M was allocated to the Ministry to fund this initiative, which allows the women to access loans to expand business projects.

Additionally, hinterland residents who are not single parents will also have access to loans through the People of Worth Entrepreneurial Resources Project (POWER), which is currently being rolled out.