Challenges experience by the indigenous families (rural communities)

According to a 2017 report on the ‘Study of Indigenous Women and Children’ by UNICEF,
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Guyana has a population of 746,955 people of which 10.3 per cent were categorized as

indigenous people. Currently there are nine indigenous tribes nestled across the 10

administrative regions of Guyana. The aboriginal people are known to be culturally oriented,

however they are known to be most deprived in the country. They also experience poverty

twice the rate or even sometimes five times more than the non-indigenous population. The

2011 - 2015 poverty reduction strategy posited that in Guyana the highest poverty level is

exhibited by the indigenous people.

Challenges faced by indigenous people are:

Monetary Resources: studies have demonstrated that in the rural areas the indigenous

people are faced with the lack of employment opportunities. It has said that most of the

women do not have formal jobs and the ones who do which is approximately 55% are

employed in food, agricultural and educational areas. Sixty-seven per cent of the adult males

are either employed in forestry, agriculture, fishing or mining and quarrying.

It is evident that many aboriginal people exist in deep vulnerability and some depend on help

from their neighbours and/or religious or not-for-profit organizations to have the bare

minimum. Some Indigenous Peoples might not consider themselves underprivileged, but a

large number of them live without the means to have three meals a day, or the money to buy

basic products. Some would use traditional medicines not because it was part of their culture,

but because they did not have money to buy medication in the local shops.

Health: The right to a healthy regime is for everyone living in Guyana. Unfortunately, the

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https://www.unicef.org/guyana/SitAn_on_Ameridian_Woman_and_Children_-_Final-web.pdf
aboriginal people are challenged daily when it comes to having a healthy life. This is

influenced by diverse factors such as availability to health care, poor quality of health care,

poor sanitation, water and hygiene, lack of vaccination, transportation. E.g. At the

Amerindian Hostile in Region 4 many pregnant women and children would leave their

villages to seek lodging at the hostile just to be able to have access to the health care facilities

in that region because in their villages there is little to no form of health care services. Not

only women and children but the men also would have to uproot to lodge in the hostile to

access proper health care.

It is due to these elements that the indigenous people in rural areas are faced with HIV/AIDS

and other diseases, little nutritive standing in women and children, and behavioral health

problems.

Education: According to the ‘study on Indigenous Women and Children’ conducted by

UNICEF it was found that poor quality of education Is an issue experienced both primary

and secondary schools for those children living in the hinterlands when compared with the

children living on the coast. It is said that “education is the key the success” if this quote is

true the Amerindian children in Guyana would be bound for failure because lack of education

leaves indigenous adolescents without proper qualifications which would result in lack of

the skills and knowledge needed to attain proper paying obs which would contribute to them

ascertaining low paying obs that would therefore perpetuate the issue to poverty in

indigenous communities.

How Can these issues be overcome?

Social Scientist can help alleviate these issues by:

       Integrating policies to reduce rural poverty: it is crucial to provide policy support

across government ministries, including Ministries of agriculture, public infrastructure

and services, social affairs, employment, health, education, finance, planning and

environment.

 examine decision-making processes on health and protection issues; strengthen the

provision of equitable prevention and response to different forms of child violence,

including gender-based violence; inform the development of a robust, sustained, early

childhood development and equitable and inclusive education programmes for

Amerindian children.

 exploring women’s leadership skills and their capacity building needs at the community

level; explore livelihood and, empowerment opportunities; provide evidence for national

and sub-national planning and developmental processes to contribute to an enabling

environment, for Indigenous women and children, and determine the knowledge,

perceptions and roles that were played by Indigenous peoples in the preservation of the

environment and climate change and what are their current roles.

Reference

UNICEF. (2017). Guyana - Study on Indigenous Women and Children . Retrieved March 26,

2020, from Guyana - Study on Indigenous Women and Children