Guyana’s head of state on Wednesday unveiled what he called a defining national moment for disability support. President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced that every citizen living with a disability will receive a one-off GYD$50,000 cash grant before this month ends.
The intervention, which totals $1.4 billion, will support more than 27,000 individuals nationwide. The announcement was made at the Railway Courtyard in Georgetown during a national observance focused on dignity and inclusion, organised by the Office of the President in partnership with the Office of the First Lady.
President Ali opened his remarks by reframing disability as a shared human experience rather than a limitation. He acknowledged that conditions can be congenital, acquired, temporary, or lifelong, adding that disabilities “touch families in every community.” With empathy as his throughline, he told attendees that another dimension of ability is “another dimension of human knowledge.”
Guyanese, he said, must carry disability support not as charity but as responsibility. As a society grounded in faith and compassion, citizens must “bear one another’s burdens,” he echoed, stressing that national progress must include everyone.
“Regardless of where you sit, in public or private life, we must make it a collective responsibility to uplift those who are mourning, struggling or underserved,” Ali said.
The observance also served as the stage for a long-term employment pledge. President Ali announced an ambitious target to generate at least 5,000 jobs for persons living with disabilities (PWDs) over the next five years. He specifically referenced employment pilot programmes in Regions Five and Six, developed with private-sector collaboration, calling them proof that scalable models already exist within the country.
The president believes national momentum can shift quickly if disability-inclusive hiring becomes the norm across public projects and business sectors.
“If we replicate this model across sectors — government, private enterprise, community spaces — we can easily turn the tide,” Ali said. “If we replicate, we can turn the tide.”
He also introduced a new mandate for government-subsidised infrastructure. Moving forward, every new government initiative — from parks and sports complexes to civic facilities — must allocate at least 10% of floor or service space for disability-centered use.
These requirements are part of what Ali described as a broader roadmap shaped through consultations with advocacy groups and members of the disability community. He shared eight priority areas guiding the government’s strategy: caregiver support, education access, community empowerment, transportation, healthcare, housing, project accessibility, and skills and income development.
Alongside the roadmap, Ali highlighted existing legislative and structural achievements, including the Prevention of Discrimination Act and the Persons with Disabilities Act, and confirmed systems like online benefit applications and the creation of the first national Learning Lab for PWD digital and academic access.
He pointed to scaled national investments such as assistive mobility devices, digital learning tools, an expanded national database for children with disabilities, and the Empower Guyana Centre — the region’s first employment and training facility of its kind, supporting over 120 workers.
Among the new interventions promised are caregiver training grants, tax incentives for families, new PWD business centres, interest-free startup loans through the National Development Bank, and collateral-free financing windows through the National Development Bank to encourage economic independence.
President Ali closed his speech by tying the individual grant to a national shift toward inclusion-based development. Economic growth and social equity, he signalled, must rise together.
“Our mission is to create an environment where persons with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of national life and contribute meaningfully to our nation’s growth,” Ali said. “Let us embrace this community with love, understanding and dignity, and let us continue to build a Guyana where no one is left behind.”
