BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados government says it will, next month, officially launch a comprehensive social program to help vulnerable families.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who is also the Finance Minister, said that the “One Family Initiative,” which had been held up for more than a year because of other pressing national issues, is intended to assist an estimated 1 200 families in the initial phase at an annual cost of BDS$30 million I(One BDS=US$0.50 cents).
Mottley said her administration intends to introduce the program, which was put on pause due to the challenges created by several external shocks that resulted in higher-than-expected spending and other measures to protect the population from rising inflation.
“This government has been adamant and focused on the One Family initiative,” Mottley said, adding, “It has meant that it has taken us a little longer to get the One Family initiative off the ground.
“… three or four months later than I would have hoped . . . [but] I am happy that the Ministry of People Empowerment will be in a position to launch this program formally,” she said Monday while addressing the Cable and Wireless Communications JUMP initiative – a partnership between the telecommunications company and the Government to provide low-income households with heavily subsidized high-speed Internet, laptops and digital training opportunities.
She said that the One Family Initiative would be officially launched on the heels of the Crop Over Festival, which ends on August 7.
In June last year, Mottley said the initiative would include matching Barbadians with families needing assistance. The initiative has received the support of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and the National Union of Public Workers.
Mottley told the ceremony on Monday that her administration is committed to moving people from a position of vulnerability to being able to chart a prosperous future, as she recalled several social programs – some of which were one-off – that were put in place over the past four years to help families cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have started the program through the Student Revolving Loan Fund to train people in cyber security to be global citizens with Bajan roots and Bajan residents. Already almost 80 percent of those [approximately 160] persons who were trained last month have been able to secure jobs, and the starting pay for those jobs is US$30,000 [per year],” Mottley reported.
“In addition to the training program that we are repeating with the Student Revolving Loan Fund, the Government is also now about to start a program called Start Wise, which will involve digital training as well the opportunity for global jobs, but it must also involve a period of engagement and changing of mindset and soft skills to make you more attractive and valuable in terms of the kinds of work that can be exposed to you.
“That Start Wise program is not just looking for kids from out of school but looking for people who have already left school and are unemployed for whatever reason,” she said, adding this is about “creating a level playing field to give people that opportunity to be global citizens with Bajan roots.”
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