GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — Opposition Parliamentarian and Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement, Amanza Walton-Desir, is questioning the effectiveness of state-sponsored programs aimed at protecting vulnerable young girls, arguing that a lack of robust data collection makes it impossible to measure true success.
Her critique follows recent disclosures from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, which confirmed that 584 girls under the age of 16 who became pregnant were referred to the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) between 2020 and 2025.
While Walton-Desir described the statistics as deeply alarming, she emphasized in a public statement that the core issue extends beyond the numbers to how the state evaluates its child protection interventions.
According to the parliamentarian, the Ministry outlined an extensive list of services available to vulnerable youth—including counseling, healthcare referrals, risk assessments, family support, and ongoing case management. However, she contended that the National Assembly was not provided with sufficient data to determine whether these actions resulted in positive, long-term outcomes for the victims.
A key point of contention was the Ministry’s admission that it could not provide data showing how many girls within the reported cohort of 584 later gave birth. Walton-Desir argued that if state agencies are actively involved throughout the pregnancy process and its aftermath, an inability to track these basic outcomes exposes severe gaps in the country’s monitoring and evaluation infrastructure.
“Meaningful policy decisions require more than descriptions of programs and services,” Walton-Desir stated, adding that the government must be able to demonstrate measurable results. She noted that vital metrics—such as whether the girls remained in school, avoided repeat pregnancies, improved their health outcomes, or achieved household stability—remain completely unavailable to policymakers and the public.
The MP underscored a critical distinction between executing an activity and demonstrating a tangible impact, noting that while assessments and counseling sessions are necessary steps, they do not automatically prove that a program is changing lives. Public policy, she argued, must be evaluated based on results rather than the volume of services delivered or funds expended.
To support her argument, Walton-Desir pointed to recent public admissions by the head of the Childcare and Protection Agency, who stated that the country is failing its children. The opposition lawmaker maintained that safeguarding vulnerable youth demands more than just reallocating resources; it requires reliable, empirical evidence that state interventions are producing meaningful and lasting improvements.
