UNICEF Country Represen-tative Dr. SreeLakshmi Gururaja said that she is pleased with the work done in Guyana during the period within which the Mid-Term Review of the UNICEF country programme took place.
She spoke at a meeting held on December 15 at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel to assess Guyana's progress.
"Throughout the process, we have built on partnerships. We are confident that our end product is fully grounded in the reality of children and their families in Guyana," she said.
She said too that during this period, all the agencies involved have become more aware of children's rights. She said that raising the awareness and policy level is a challenge, but some of the work has started. She mentioned the drafting of the children's bill and the launching of regional committees on the rights of the child as some of those achievements.
The Mid-Term Review is held half-way through the country programme cycle and the main aim is to make a systematic and in-depth review of progress in relation to the programme objectives and the expected results. The review also identifies and makes provisions for mid course adjustments in the key elements of the design of the country programme.
The 2003 MTR process started in March this year and was directed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in close collaboration with the stakeholders and UNICEF. The country programme places emphasis on advocacy, legislation and policy development.
During the Mid-Term Review, specific problems facing children in the different stages of the life cycle were analysed with the view to understanding the different levels of causes for action and responses by the state, government agencies, donor agencies, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, families and parents. Using the problem analysis, the next step was the articulation of an overall long-term goal and the development of a results chain to address these problems.
The construction of a results chain for the country programme allows for a sharper focus of what UNICEF cooperation can realistically initiate, promote and support in bringing about the achievement of agreed strategic results.
The meeting was attended by Regional Director of UNICEF, Nils Kastberg. His visit provided him the opportunity of looking at areas for collaboration in the region and to strengthen UNICEF's relations with Caricom.