Diaspora engagement in New York kickstarts by Government

The Guyana Government, in keeping with its promise to aggressively include the Guyanese
Diaspora in national development, will commence its engagement with the diaspora in New
York and New Jersey.
It was noted that the outreach will take place from February 21 through 25. Heading the
delegation on the New York outreach is Prime Minister, Mark Phillips. Accompanying him are
Public Service Minister Sonia Parag and Local Government and Regional Development Minister
Nigel Dharamlall. Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud and Head of the Diaspora,
Rosalinda Rasul, will represent the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry. It
was pointed out that the international outreach, which is the first of several to take place in 2022,
forms part of the diaspora agenda of the Guyana Government. It was noted that it will enable
officials to engage the Guyanese diaspora on the government’s development agenda, while
addressing their concerns.
Therefore, as part of the framework to engage the Guyanese diaspora, several strategies were
identified. The presence of the government and its representatives in diaspora locations is
important in advancing that process. It was pointed out that there are large concentrations of
Guyanese living and working in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, the Caribbean and
South America.
As such, regional and international outreaches will take the form of townhall and strategic
meetings.  Further, townhall meetings are opened to every member of the diaspora to discuss a
wide cross section of topics relating to Guyana, the government’s development programme, and
other areas of interests. It was stressed that these meetings will allow for open engagements and
questions and answers. Strategic meetings are more focused and may be sectoral. Target groups
include diaspora investors, academics, religious leaders, diaspora groups, school alumni and
other specialised groups. Additionally, these meetings are strategic to the wider economic and
social development objectives of the government and are mediums through which the diaspora’s
attention and resources may be aligned with specific programmes, ministries or sectors.
It was reiterated that the delegation will also be attending the Republic Day celebration in New
York, planned February 22, and a similar ceremony on February 23 in New Jersey. The ministry
added that the Prime Minister will speak at both events.