Award Ceremony for Public Finance for Children and Value for Money Course
after an intense six months of training, 29 persons from Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica have successfully completed the course.
"Anchored in the Convention of the Rights of the Child, UNICEF’s universal mandate is to uphold the rights of all children."
Georgetown, Guyana, November 9 2023 -
Towards furthering the work on Value for Money (VfM) and to create a bridge between VfM and Public Finance for Children (PF4C), UNICEF Guyana & Suriname in collaboration with the Government of Guyana-Ministry of Finance and the International Training Centre for International Labour Organisation (ITCILO) has completed an in-depth training on Public Finance and Value for Money for Child-Sensitive Social Protection for partners in Guyana and Suriname.
After an intense six months of training, 29 persons from Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica have successfully completed the course.
UNICEF Guyana recently hosted an awards ceremony for 19 graduates in Guyana and lonesome Jamaica, who joined the ceremony online.
Nicolas Pron, Area Representative of UNICEF Guyana & Suriname during keynote remarks congratulated the batch and noted that he looks forward to continued discussions and meaningful engagement over the next months and years to further strengthen the foundation for a Community of Practice (CoP) on PF4C in Guyana and Suriname.
Michael Gillis, Social Policy Specialist at UNICEF Guyana and Suriname highlighted that the course comprised of several sessions on knowledge sharing on supporting the building of social protection systems, advocacy for increased public finance for children, budgeting, and addressing gender equality, disability and adolescent participation.
He explained that though the course was contextualized in Goal Area 5 to ensure every child has an equitable chance in life, it has also contributed to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10- reduced inequalities in Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica.
“Anchored in the Convention of the Rights of the Child, UNICEF’s universal mandate is to uphold the rights of all children. This course aims to ensure that every child has an equal opportunity, and no one is left behind,” Gillis said.
He noted that while the main objective will contribute to the SDG 10, it will also contribute to eight other SDGs including SDG 1- no poverty, 2- zero hunger, 3- good health and well-being, 4- quality education, 5- gender equality, 6- clean water and sanitation, 11- sustainable cities and communities and 16- peace, justice and strong institutions.
He further indicated that a CoP is expected to be formed with persons who have successfully completed the PF4C course. “The focus initially would be on PF4C, however, it is envisioned that it will later focus on the establishment and strengthening of tools, systems, and platforms to accommodate wider participation,” he underscored.
The CoP will include stakeholders from the Government, Donor Agencies, local and international non-profit organisations, private sector, Academia, and Consultants actively involved with the PF4C agenda.
Meanwhile, graduating partners at the certificate ceremony thanked UNICEF for the opportunity while noting that the knowledge obtained from the course will lend to improved public finance and value for money systems for children across the board in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The high-level training was done with partners from the Government, Civil Society Organisations and Development partners in Guyana and Suriname.
A certificate ceremony for the remaining nine graduates in Suriname is expected to be done soon.
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For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org.
