Project profile — Improving access to early learning and health services in Guyana’s hinterland and coastal areas

• Guyana (100.00%)

• Education, Level Unspecified: Education facilities and training (11120) (10.00%)
• Basic Education: Early childhood education (11240) (50.00%)
• Basic nutrition:
Basic nutrition (12240) (10.00%)
Health education (12261) (10.00%)
• Water And Sanitation: Education and training in water supply and sanitation (14081) (10.00%)
• Government And Civil Society, General: Ending violence against women and girls (15180) (10.00%)

• Climate Change Adaptation (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (principal objective)
• Indigenous Issues (significant objective)
• Nutrition (significant objective)
• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Children's issues (principal objective)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (significant objective)

This project aims to improve the health, safety and learning environments for children and families in migrant and host communities across Guyana’s hinterland and selected coastal areas. It focuses on ensuring that children especially those under 4 years old and adolescents have access to quality early childhood development (ECD) services and adolescent health programming in supportive, gender-responsive spaces. Project activities include: (1) expanding early childhood development programs to 74 communities through the distribution of ECD kits, training for caregivers and creation of new learning spaces; (2) training over 1,800 adolescents in gender-based violence prevention and sexual and reproductive health; (3) supporting the development of national dormitory school standards and conducting assessments of school living environments; (4) distributing 1,375 adolescent health kits across 5 regions to promote menstrual hygiene and adolescent well-being; and (5) establishing school health clubs and peer education programs to create safe spaces for adolescent learning and engagement. The project benefits children under 4 years old, adolescent girls and boys, parents, caregivers and healthcare providers reaching approximately 40,000 children, 20,000 parents and caregivers, and 8,500 adolescents across 100 communities in Regions 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) local and migrant communities in the hinterland and selected coastal areas have equitable coverage of quality early childhood development (ECD) stimulation and parenting programmes; (2) increased gender-based violence (GBV) awareness and related preventative and transformative actions in hinterland and selected vulnerable locations; and (3) aligned resource allocation, monitoring and maintenance of operating procedures in ECD spaces and dormitory school settings to established standards.

Results achieved as of December 2024 include: (1) reached a cumulative total of 31,426 children (15,781 girls and 15,645 boys) with improved early childhood development (ECD) services, including 4,515 children from remote regions, representing 78.5% of the project’s target of 40,000; (2) expanded quality ECD programming to 74 communities (28 in hinterland and 46 in coastal regions), up from 13 at baseline; (3) trained 9,701 parents, caregivers, and community health workers (7,469 women and 2,232 men) on nurturing care, child protection and ECD practices, using newly developed multilingual resources; (4) provided 1,854 adolescents (1,101 girls and 753 boys) with structured training in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, supported by the distribution of 1,375 adolescent health kits and the establishment of 32 school health clubs; and (5) supported the creation of a Project Steering Committee, the revision of the Performance Measurement Framework and stronger coordination among national ministries to improve project governance and sustainability.

• Proactive disclosure