Eighty-one women graduated earlier this month after completing two small business development programmes conducted in Berbice by the Guyana Women's Leadership Institute (GWLI).

The women received training in entrepreneurial skills, cross-stitching, fabric painting and making of soft-toys, a Government Information Agency (GINA) release said.

The project was funded by the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and forms part of a national poverty reduction programme. It was effected through a joint venture between government and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), GINA stated.

GWLI Coordinator, Jayashree Persaud indicated that most of the women face a daily challenge of making "ends meet," according to GINA.

The release quoted BNTF representative, Satyanand Rambarran, as saying that international funding agencies, such as the CDB, are particularly concerned with "educating poor people in developing countries, as this can have a positive effect on individuals, families and local development." Rambarran, who was speaking at the graduation ceremony held at the J.C. Chandisingh school in Port Mourant, Berbice, further observed that the small business programmes sought to develop skills in an effort to "improve the economic status of the poor to eradicate poverty."

The initiative is part of a second phase of training being offered to rural women from outlying areas in Guyana, the release added.