Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) Amanza Walton-Desir has criticised Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud, for what she said were “flippant” responses to parliamentary questions on child protection and adolescent support programmes.
A total of 584 girls under the age of 16 who became pregnant between 2020 and 2025 were referred to the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA), but the agency does not maintain separate records showing how many of those children went on to give birth, Persaud disclosed.
The figures were provided in written responses to a series of questions posed by Walton-Desir during the latest sitting of the National Assembly at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal on June 5th.
The agency is unable to provide a separate figure for girls under the age of 16 who gave birth during the specified period, the minister stated, adding that all such matters are treated as child protection concerns and assessed for signs of abuse, neglect or exploitation.
In a video response on her Facebook page recently, Walton-Desir questioned how the ministry could claim to be involved in risk assessments, discharge planning, post-delivery monitoring, follow-up visits and ongoing case management, yet still be unable to tell parliament how many girls within the cohort of more than 500 adolescent pregnancies had ultimately given birth.
She noted that while the minister had pointed to the existence of a structured adolescent maternal programme, the ministry had failed to provide measurable outputs for the past five years when asked. Instead, she said, the responses outlined services such as counselling, referrals, monitoring, parenting support and reintegration assistance.
According to Walton-Desir, while those activities are important, they do not constitute outcomes. She said the Opposition was not questioning whether services were being offered, but rather what evidence existed to demonstrate that the programmes were achieving their intended results.
She contended that effective public policy requires more than the existence of programmes and stressed the need to assess whether the billions of dollars approved by parliament for such initiatives were translating into tangible outcomes. Walton-Desir said it was necessary to determine whether adolescent mothers were receiving the support they required and maintained that there was a significant gap between what parliament was being told and what was actually occurring on the ground.
She further criticised the “flippant” responses from Persaud, suggesting that officials appeared to believe that the population was not smart enough to scrutinise their answers.
Meanwhile, Walton-Desir also asked whether a mandatory referral protocol exists between the Ministry of Health and the CPA when a child under the age of 16 is confirmed pregnant.
Persaud responded that there is an established inter-agency practice under which both the Ministry of Health and private healthcare providers notify the agency whenever a pregnancy involving a child under 16 is identified, since such cases may indicate sexual abuse under the law.
Asked to provide the written policy governing the referral process, Persaud said that there is no standalone policy titled a mandatory referral protocol. Instead, she said the process is guided by provisions of the Protection of Children Act and the Sexual Offences Act, as well as established procedures among the health, social services and law enforcement sectors. She added that the ministry is currently developing policies that previously did not exist and is working to strengthen coordination mechanisms to improve consistency, timeliness and accountability.
Walton-Desir further questioned whether a formal child protection risk assessment is conducted when a child under the age of 16 gives birth. In response, Persaud said a comprehensive assessment is carried out whenever the CPA becomes aware that a child under 16 is pregnant or has given birth.
According to her, child protection officers conduct interviews and family investigations, the matter is reported to the Guyana Police Force because pregnancies involving children under 16 constitute statutory rape offences, and home visits are undertaken to determine whether the child and newborn are living in a safe environment.
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