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