CSOs receive donations of items to furnish ‘Safe Spaces’ under Spotlight Initiative

In October 2021, the Spotlight Initiative supported the procurement of furniture and equipment for shelters/safe spaces to support the work of Help & Shelter and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) in the provision of Gender-Based Violence services.

These donations, supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), resulted from assessments of the shelter facility operated by Help & Shelter and the safe space operated by SASOD. Stoves with gas bottles, beds, and laptops, among other items, were donated to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and Help and Shelter. The Ministry then handed over several items to SASOD to support the operations of its safe space.

Founder of SASOD, Joel Simpson, said that the donation would allow the organisation to provide more services than before. “One very important resource that we have now [is] our desktop computer because persons want to come to be able to get assistance with help putting together job applications and their resumes so that they could apply for jobs…[they] submit job applications online… that was a service that we weren’t able to provide as seamlessly before in the safe space,” he explained. “We’ve also received a stove and when people flee violence… if we’re able to have food and provide them with a hot meal, that’s something we’ll also be able to do in the future, going forward, which we haven’t been able to do before,” he said.

The donations provided under the Spotlight Initiative allow the CSOs to provide more comprehensive services to support persons seeking refuge from violence.

Present at the handing over were Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Hon. Dr. Vindhya Persaud, UN Resident Coordinator, Yeşim Oruç; Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Guyana Evelina Melbarzde; UNFPA Liaison Officer, Adler Bynoe; and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar.