WOW project gives women a fresh start

The national micro credit programme: Women of Worth (WOW) provides women with an opportunity to empower themselves.

The WOW project was officially launched June 4 by President Bharrat Jagdeo at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), and a collaborative agreement was made July 6, 2010 between the government, through the finance ministry, and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). 

WOW was established as a micro credit initiative, with the fundamental aims being to improve the socioeconomic status of women in Guyana, promote their active participation and integration in national development, and contribute towards poverty reduction, thereby stimulating micro and macro economic growth; provide access to financial resources and business development intervention for female single parents desirous of pursuing small business ventures, to act as a catalyst in creating an enabling environment (via community development programmes) which allow people at community levels to take advantage of economic opportunities, and increase women’s mobility, security, self esteem and participation in decision making processes at micro and macro levels. 

GBTI has provided G$500 million dollars and the Government of Guyana will provide G$50 million dollars each year to administer this project. Financing, from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $250,000, is offered on an unsecured basis to individuals.  The interest rate applicable to the loan is 6 percent per annum, not exceeding twenty-four months, inclusive of a moratorium of three to six months as necessary. 

Shaleeza Shaw, Head of Credit and Corporate Secretary at GBTI, stated that the WOW Initiative was derived from recognition that single parents are a vulnerable group in society that needs support to lift them out of the poverty line or above the poverty line. 

“We recognise the pivotal role women play in society and the fact that they are more likely than men to spend their income on the wellbeing of their families. Data around the world also show that women are more likely than men to repay their debts. In the wider scope of things, we embrace the philosophy of aiding growth of industry in our economy at all levels of organisation,” she told Guyana Times Sunday Magazine in an interview. 

The ultimate goal of this five-year project (2010- 2015) is to provide intervention and financial support to ensure that recipients of this micro credit initiative manage and sustain successful business ventures. 

To be eligible, female single parents must fall within the ages eighteen to sixty. All recipients of this project must have minimum level of training or skills in the proposed area of business; in addition, they must not be earning more than $40,000 per month.  All those who access this loan must be registered with the Single Parent Registry. 

“It has a low interest rate and they don’t have to have collateral. We saw it as an opportunity to help the younger generation because the loans will help in sending kids to school thus empowering them also,” Shaw explained. 

She noted that since the launch, more than 380 loans have been disbursed, and much more applications are pending, and the staff is working around the clock assessing them. 

“We have an overwhelming response to the WOW plan. Over 1,000 applications received; applications received from regions two, three, four, five, six, nine and ten. Outreaches were held in collaboration with the human services and social security ministry at Linden, Hampshire, Berbice, Anna Regina, Buxton and Fort Wellington… Also, moratoriums of 3 to 6 months [are] offered to help new businesses mature, so that the income generated can service the monthly instalment. Financing is given to help establish, carry on or expand a small business,” she disclosed. 

In a recent interview, human and social security minister, Priya Manickchand had said that this initiative is a fulfilment of the government’s promise to establish a single parent assistance plan and a micro-credit scheme for single parent women. 

In 2008, government invited a number of single parents across Guyana to register, which enabled the drafting of a single parent database register. 

“From then to now, hundreds of single parents benefited from the assistance under this scheme,” the minister said. 

More than 360 single parents were trained in skills that they chose such as garment construction, catering, cosmetology, Information Communications Technology (ICT), child care, office procedures and care for the elderly. 

The minister pointed out that WOW is the “epitome of government’s desire to establish an environment where good public-private relations could thrive and prosper, and underscores government’s appreciation for the benefits of the entire society moving in the same direction as it relates to empowerment of our people and development of our country.”  

She explained that the single largest challenge for the small business enterprise sector, and particularly for women, is access to finance, as they are hurdles in the conventional banking system that simply cannot be crossed by them. 

She stated that good, visionary governance requires the provision of the wherewithal to cross these hurdles, thus WOW was conceptualised. 

In June, the Fiscal Enactment (Amendment) Bill presented by finance minister Dr. Ashni Singh was passed.  The Bill, which amended the Income Tax Act and the Corporation Tax Act, seeks to give effect to a waiver of tax on income of a designated small business lending company derived from loans provided to a small business in a manner specified by agreement. 

“A manifestation of this is the agreement entered with GBTI which resulted in WOW, a micro-credit financial facility,” the minister noted. 

Single parents (women) can visit the Ministry of Human and Social Security to learn more about WOW and to benefit from it. (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)