Guyana: S/GWI Project Proposal

UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 000086 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KWMN KPAO PHUM AID CDC GY SUBJECT: Guyana: S/GWI Project Proposal REF: 10 STATE 12531 ¶1. (U) Per reftel, local NGO Help & Shelter's program proposal is provided below: ¶2. Project Title: Support in Combating Gender-Based Violence (GBV) with proposed project duration of 18 months. Amount requested is USD99,970 (see paragraph 7). ¶3. Help & Shelter Background: Help & Shelter was established in November 1994. It is governed by its members through general meetings, including the annual general meeting at which directors are elected to direct and oversee the management of the organization. The board meets at least monthly and is assisted by a coordinator, who is responsible for the day-to-day operations. The services provided include public education, advocacy and networking with like-minded individuals and groups; provision of face-to-face, court support and hotline counseling; referrals of clients to other agencies for appropriate support and; the maintenance of a shelter for abused women and their children. From November 1995, when Help & Shelter launched its counselling services, to December 2009, a total of 8,607 persons have received counselling and other support services, 75 percent between the ages of 14 and 40 and 86 percent of them female. 40 percent of all adults seen had experienced some form of physical spousal abuse and 18 percent non physical spousal abuse. 16 percent of cases were also alcohol and/or drug related. Out of a total of 1,055 child clients counselled during this period, 54 percent had been raped or sexually abused and 24 percent physically abused. Of all cases seen, 48 percent were from urban areas and 51 percent from rural communities. ¶4. Project Management: The project will be implemented at the Crisis Center in Georgetown by the project coordinator, who has over nine years experience working in the field of social work. The Project Coordinator is responsible for managing the day to day activities at Center. The coordination will be assisted by six counselors who have over 5 years' counseling experience; a monitoring and evaluation officer and an accountant who are qualified and experienced in their respective fields. Help & Shelter has considerable experience in implementing similar and other donor-funded projects. These include reducing gender-based violence within selected communities pilot project under the United Nations Population Fund for 6 months from October 2007; Canada Fund project to increase awareness of domestic violence and child abuse with health workers for 1 year from March 2007 and; United States Agency for International Development funded training and advocacy on HIV/AIDS and Domestic Violence Project from October 2007 to September 2008. ¶5. Help & Shelter's Problem Statement: "The problem to be addressed is the continuing prevalence of gender-based (GBV) violence in Guyana, which results in thousands of women and girls being deprived of the right to live a life free of violence and of the opportunity to recognize their potential, and the need to provide support services for survivors/victims of GBV. Although the Domestic Violence Act was passed in 1996 and a National Policy on Domestic Violence adopted in 2008, domestic violence continues to be the leading cause of injury to women. Domestic violence is mostly perpetrated by male partners or spouses towards women and is still all too often regarded as a cultural norm. A large number of children are also directly and indirectly exposed to and affected by domestic violence in the home. This leads to the perpetuation of a cycle of abuse where children exposed to violence in the home are at far greater risk to themselves becoming perpetrators of abuse or victims of abuse as adults. Frequently, Guyanese media report cases of death and violence inflicted upon women and girls. Inadequate data makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of the extent of gender-based violence and its impact in Guyana. A study conducted by the NGO Red Thread in 2000 found that one out of every three women experienced some type of physical abuse with 21 percent of women in current relationships and 42 percent in previous relationships experiencing physical abuse by husbands or partners. A 2005 Guyana Human Rights Association study on sexual violence in the criminal justice system in Guyana found that only one percent of rapes reported to the police resulted in convictions. This study also found that in 2007 92 percent of sexual assault victims were female, of whom 69 percent were girls aged 16 and younger. This trend continues as the country awaits the passage of new sexual offences legislation. Child abuse is also widespread in Guyana. A UNICEF/Ministry of Labor, Human Services and Social Security/Red Thread report on a study conducted in 2004/2005 among 4,000 children aged 3-17 yrs in all 10 administrative Regions of Guyana found that 87 percent of children interviewed had received some sort of physical punishment in the home, 41 percent had experienced intimidation and 14 percent reported being denigrated. Additionally, 28 percent of in-school youth and 48 percent of out-of-school youth were assessed as being inadequately supervised at home. In schools, 37 percent of children reported being verbally abused, 18 percent threatened and 32 percent actually hurt by peers. Sexual abuse is also prevalent and goes mostly unreported due to problems of inadequate legislation, poor services and a reluctance to report to authorities. It is estimated that in Guyana 8-10 percent of girls and 2-5percent of boys are sexually abused." ¶6. Proposed Program: This eighteen-month project is designed to support the work of Help & Shelter to provide community based support to combat gender based violence using the following initiatives: ¶1. Face-to-face and hotline counselling of victims/survivors of domestic and sexual violence so that they are able to understand the nature and dynamics of domestic and sexual violence, develop necessary coping skills, build self confidence and self esteem and access support services so as to enable them to live lives free from violence and the threat of violence. Family members, including children affected by and witnessing domestic violence, will benefit directly and indirectly from counselling as the violence is reduced, resolved or ended in the victim/survivor's life. Counselling for family members will also help to foster positive changes in their own lives while at the same time encouraging support and assistance to those relatives experiencing domestic violence. ¶2. Court support services/counselling for survivors of child abuse and domestic and sexual violence and their families. This will help to reduce the psychological trauma associated with sexual violence, child sexual abuse and domestic abuse as well as take the victims/survivors through the court process as they seek legal redress for the violence to which they have been subjected. ¶3. Victims/survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse and child abuse will benefit from appropriate referral services to agencies for legal help, police and court assistance, and welfare and other social support. ¶4. Shelter counselling for abused women who access the agency's shelter for themselves and their dependent children as they seek to rebuild their lives and those of their children. ¶5. Public awareness through broadcast of radio and TV public service announcements to inform Guyanese of the existence of Help & Shelter and the services provided by the organization. ¶7. Proposed Project Budget (USD99,970): - Project personnel contract fees - USD68,310 - Stipends - USD7,650 - Reproduction of leaflets and posters - USD900 - Broadcast of public service announcements - USD9,000 - Stationery - USD1,530 - Court support counseling travel - USD3,420 - Admin Expenses - USD9,160 - TOTAL $99,970 ¶8. Embassy Georgetown's point of contact is Ken Reiman, Political/Economic Section Chief, telephone (592) 225-4900, ext. 4214, IVG 747-4214, fax (592) 227-0240, email address reimanko@state.gov. WILLIAMS