First Lady mobilizes support for vulnerable children, differently-abled persons

First Lady Arya Ali on Monday met with U.S Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch and Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Nicholas Boyer in an effort to mobilize support for vulnerable groups across Guyana.

In a statement, Mrs Ali’s office said that during both meetings, the First Lady outlined the tenets of her “One Guyana” platform which moves beyond social and cultural inclusion, to examine biological and environmental factors which cause individuals to be excluded from various aspects of society.

“Particularly, HE Arya Ali identified differently-abled persons and children to be among the most vulnerable, due to their inability to navigate structural barriers,” the First Lady’s office stated.

She advocated for differently-abled persons must be empowered through collective recognition and integration into society and provided a list of a few hundred differently-abled persons who are currently seeking employment, and lobbied the private sector to provide employment opportunities for those persons.

The list will also be provided to the Ministry of Labour for additional support in providing employment opportunities.

To support children, the First Lady is embarking on a pilot project to have businesses adopt an orphanage for a minimum of six months, in an effort to improve the state of those agencies and the lives of the children.

HE Arya Ali also committed her support to working with both the U.S Embassy in Georgetown and the PSC on their initiatives which seek to improve the lives of the Guyanese people.

For his part, Mr. Boyer shared that the PSC has a social responsibility to support initiatives and activities which are designed to benefit vulnerable groups, including women, children and those who are differently-abled.

To this end, he pledged support for both the adopt-an-orphanage initiative and for the PSC to assist in providing employment for differently-abled persons.

Ambassador Lynch said she was particularly pleased to know that the First Lady is actively pursuing these issues, particularly support for the differently-abled, since she has witnessed first-hand many of the challenges they face on a daily basis.

She added that the U.S Embassy will continue to support the work of the government and the Office of the First Lady, in an effort to improve the welfare of people across the country.