{"id":31437,"date":"2026-08-17T20:37:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/?p=31437"},"modified":"2026-08-17T20:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:37:46","slug":"govt-strengthens-support-for-mv-barima-survivors-and-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/govt-strengthens-support-for-mv-barima-survivors-and-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t strengthens support for MV Barima survivors and families"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">-by Celestine Chacon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Government has intensified its support for survivors and families affected by the MV Barima tragedy, with international assistance from the United Nations and the Red Cross also being sought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This update from Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, who said the Government remains focused on providing assistance and addressing the immediate and longer-term needs of those affected by the tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking on the <em>Starting Point<\/em> podcast, Dr. Vindhya Persaud said approximately 75 social workers, counsellors and psychologists have been deployed across several regions, where they continue to work directly with affected families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said these efforts have been ongoing through the HEART Initiative, while the Ministry is now preparing to launch a new platform aimed at expanding access to further support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<strong>This week I am ensuring that an online platform will be launched. It&#8217;s called Embrace. And the first effort of this platform is going to be the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security National Counseling Platform, which will be expanding over time. But the first thing that we are going to do is to offer the service to anyone impacted and affected by the MV Barima tragedy<\/strong>,&#8221; she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This new initiative will allow qualified professionals from Guyana and the diaspora to volunteer their expertise, giving users access to counsellors based on their areas of specialization, with confidential and personalized sessions available by voice or video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Persaud also noted that while this is ongoing, government is seeking additional support from international organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<strong>We do have a strong team here and it\u2019s continuing to build, I\u2019ve also reach to the Red Cross for Support, I\u2019ve spoken to the UN to ask for their support, that support is building<\/strong>,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also clarified that the immediate financial assistance provided by the government is not compensation but is intended to help families cover urgent needs such as food, transportation and other essential expenses during this difficult time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The minister emphasized that the government\u2019s response will not cease as families continue to navigate the different stages of grief and begin rebuilding their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>-by Celestine Chacon The Government has intensified its support for survivors and families affected by the MV Barima tragedy, with international assistance from the United Nations and the Red Cross&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[488,370,1211,1151,412,405],"class_list":["post-31437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-488","tag-guyana","tag-human-services-and-social-security","tag-mv-barima","tag-ncn-guyana","tag-ncn-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31439,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31437\/revisions\/31439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}