Church bells ought to be ringing and consumers ought to be celebrating the turn in our affairs. No more gloom, no more despair. The Guyana Micro-Project Programme (GMPP), which is funded by the European Union/Government of Guyana is seeking proposals for community-based micro-projects in the following sectors:
* Employment/income generation (50% of the total allocation)
* Training, Education, Communication and Good Governance (25% of the total allocation)
* Other Socio-Economic Sectors (25% of the total allocation).
Consumers may not have paid attention to the advertisements seen so often in our newspapers with the Guyana flag in the top left hand corner and the European flag in the right, but they must know that it concerns them. There is no longer need to wait indefinitely for the Poverty Reduction Strategy to reduce poverty. This programme is doing the job.
The overall objective of the GMPP is to reduce poverty and social inequality in Guyana. Single micro-projects should focus on the three sectors listed above.
The programme began its operations in Guyana in 2006. It is not confined to Georgetown. The widest possible participation of all sectors of society is encouraged in the development process. In regions such as One and Ten it is for leaders to be on the alert to identify needs and to take advantage of this offer.
The sum of money provided by the programme is equivalent to G$950 million. The overall amount remaining available for micro-projects is GYD $409,812,480.00.
The GMPP seeks to achieve four broad-based results. Two address key issues related to the capacity building of community-based organizations and mirco-project funding/ implementation, and the others are related to project management support and government/civil society dialogue. Each component is summarized below.
Result 1: Completion of seventy-five (75) micro-projects
Result 2: Strengthening of civil society
*Through contracted service providers provide assistance/training to partner organizations/programme, target communities in areas such as participatory needs assessment, project development, implementation and management, etc
Result 3: Functioning of an independent micro-projects board (GMPPB) and
Result 4: Promotion of dialogue between civil society and government
* Facilitate annual workshop/dialogue between civil society and government on key topics of relevance to the programme.
In the year 2006 57 proposals under $2.5 million were received and 34 were approved.
Sixty-six proposals over $2.5 million were received and 45 were approved.
Of the 79 proposals approved, 36 were implemented before January 31, 2007 and the remainder are currently being implemented.
The core responsibilities of the GMPP Board are as follows:
1. To promote and disseminate information about the GMPPB
2. To provide overall guidance to the GMPP
3. The clearance of progress reports, programme estimates and budget from the GMPP. These will require the final approval of the NAO (a section in the Ministry of Finance) and the head of the European Commission delegation.
4. To discuss and approve or reject individual micro-projects in keeping with the approved GMPP Guidelines and Operations Manual and to ensure the technical and substantive quality of those projects.
5. To plan, conduct and participate in the dialogue (through annual workshops) between the government and civil society on sector issues relevant to the GMPP.
The GMPPB is comprised of six members, two of whom should be women and at least one should be an Amerindian resource person. They are elected by civil society representatives for the duration of two-and-a-half years, changing on a yearly basis.
On March 19, 2007, by invitation, civil society representatives gathered to nominate and vote for the three replacement members.
The GMPPB now stands as
Chairman Ms Yvonne Hinds
Members Mr Mohamed Karimullah
Mr Colin Beaton
Ms Geraldine Mason-Halls
Ms Patricia David
Mr Peter Persaud
