Above: Guyana FM Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and UNICEF Rep. Dr Suleiman Braimoh

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Guyana Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and UNICEF Guyana/Suriname Representative Dr Suleiman Braimoh have signed a five-year Country Programme Action Plan that will provide Guyana with $15.2 million in funding.

The programme is developed through a mutual agreement to advocate for the Rights of the Child and for greater parity in gender equality.

Rodrigues-Birkett said the signing comes “at a critical juncture in our country as we strive to meet the Millennium Development Goals, some of which we believe we have met already.”

The CPAP will support national priorities and policies aimed at increasing social issues for child survival and protection, adolescent development and parliamentary reform regarding legislation for the protection of women and children.

“One of the key things that came out of the MDG report and then the way forward, has to do with the fact that are few pockets, few issues,” Braimoh said.

According to Braimoh, the programme has been couched within the context of the UN’s developmental assistance to Guyana as a whole.

Rodrigues-Birkett said the signing marked an “important step” in Guyana’s cooperation with the UN and UNICEF in particular.