Because of the differences in roles and responsibilities of women and men along with differences in needs, perceptions and views, 'gender' is the new concept to facilitate this interdependent relationship.

The strategic plan will focus on needs in various Regions, developing education and training programmes for specific areas, training for trainers' workshops, programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation and institutional strengthening.

To incorporate this position, a new mission statement has been drafted. The institution is now guided by directions "to create and implement gender-focused education and training programmes for women and men in the Government, non-government, public and private sectors, in order to promote gender awareness and equity."

The new construct was to support the overall objectives of the Beijing Women's Conference in which Guyana participated in 1995. At that Conference, the pivotal issues were empowerment, leadership and gender, with the specific intention of improving the status of women in today's society.

The Institute decided to restructure its focus to include 'gender issues'. With the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), GWLI programmes will be taken to a significant number of Regions and organisations to stimulate gender awareness.

The immediate goal is to take programmes to the Hinterland communities. They will initially target Regions One, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten, beginning with Region Ten.

They also have recognised that the role of women is compatible with that of men. Today's scenario demands that both men and women operating in the home, workplace and other institutions function under the same conditions.

Their initial focus on women, specifically, has affected family relationships, since women were identified as the ones in need of empowerment. They are hoping that with the new angle, this misconception will be rectified.

It was also recognised that the majority of women benefiting from programmes administered by the Institution were from Region Four.

The target population will now be secondary school and university students, women's activists, housewives, skilled and professional women, male partners and colleagues of women and men in governmental and non-governmental organisations.

To ensure the proper implementation of these plans and to effectively target their intended group, past programmes have been assessed and needs assessments for various communities will be conducted.

Resource persons for these sessions will be facilitated through the University of Guyana (UG), the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and the Trade Union Movement. Area specialists may have to be recruited to address with some of the issues now on the agenda.

Trainers also will have to undergo reorientation to promote the gender perspective.

Before the three-year strategic plan, there was a five-year action plan, targetting specific issues such as national women's needs, women in leadership, women in decision-making, women in the economy and violence against women.

In the first year, they intend to secure personnel to aid in the development and implementation of programmes, conduct a needs assessment for Regions in the first phase of the programme, train trainers, upgrade the documentation centre, market programmes and implement monitoring and evaluation practices.

For year two, some areas to be addressed are needs assessments for the remaining Regions, follow-up on programmes, review resource personnel, and establish partnerships with national and international agencies.

In the final year, follow-ups on programmes in all Regions will be conducted as well as a revision of all programmes. Gender training modules will be compiled and the marketing programme will be revised while new markets and clients will be secured. These are just some of the issues outlined over the three-year period.

The National Resource and Documentation Centre for Gender and Development also was established after the Beijing Conference in 1995. It is envisioned that to support teaching and training, the relevant information must be readily available. Therefore, the establishment of the Centre was necessary.

This Centre now provides information on gender, gender equity, gender mainstreaming and gender in development.