THE Secretary General of the Guyana National Commission for UNESCO, Ms. Inge Nathoo, yesterday made a presentation of a grant cheque of $1.4M to Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad, for the implementation of the Youth Alleviation through Tourism and Heritage (Youth PATH) project.

The presentation which is the initial tranche of a total grant of $1.8M, was made at the minister’s office on South Road, Georgetown.

The grant is given by the Japanese Government through the establishment of a Funds-in-Trust (JFIT) with UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean, and is part of UNESCO’s programme to support the involvement of young people in natural and cultural heritage conservation to improve their livelihoods through the creation of innovative tourism business.

The implementation of the Youth PATH project will benefit about 50 young people from Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) communities around Lake Mainstay in Kabakaburi, St. Monica and Akawini, who will be trained in natural heritage tourism management, natural heritage tourism business development, craft production and marketing of craft.

Prashad said the money will be used primarily for upgrading the skills of school drop-outs.

“We want to promote craft production and other souvenirs in these areas so youths can learn a skill and they can develop,” he stressed.

“This money will go a far way…the longest journey begins with a single step and we are very grateful to UNESCO for giving us this grant to promote tourism, craft and heritage tourism, and also to develop heritage sites in these areas,” he stated.

He noted that as tourism develops more and more in Guyana, these kinds of programmes are necessary.

“So our tourists can benefit and at the same time we can create more employment for our youth, especially in those far areas,” Prashad noted.

According to a UNESCO release, the Caribbean Youth PATH project was implemented in eleven countries between 2003 and 2007, and due to the importance of the project, the National Commission for UNESCO in all countries under the Kingston Cluster Office, government stakeholders particularly in ministries of culture and tourism, community based organizations, project managers and coordinators and private sector tourism enterprises, all requested its continuation beyond 2007.

The Japanese government funded project seeks to involve youth primarily in rural communities, in community tourism and the preservation of cultural and natural tourism sites.

The programme development objective is to contribute to the attainment in the Caribbean of the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty, especially extreme poverty, by 2015.

Its immediate objective is to increase capacity among young people in the Caribbean to manage natural and cultural heritage sites and equip them with skills for employment and income generation in heritage tourism.

The priority group of the project is the youth between the ages of 15 and 25, particularly at risk youth from rural, indigenous and disadvantaged communities.

Youth PATH projects are being implemented in 14 countries under the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office, during the 2008 to 2009 biennium, and the main project activities will include tourism, provision of technical support to young people to start business, and on the job training through partnerships with national agencies and the private sector.