PM Phillips commends outgoing UN Resident Coordinator’s role in Guyana’s achievements, development

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips commended the efforts of the outgoing United Nations Resident Coordinator to Guyana, Yeșim Oruç, for solidifying the robust relationship with the UN agencies and initiatives which have been instrumental in ensuring Guyana  achieves its developmental objectives.

Prime Minister Phillips made the remarks at Oruç’s farewell ceremony at the World Bank Gardens on Carmichael Street, Georgetown, Friday evening.

Oruç has been a responsive and reliable partner to the government and an ardent supporter of Guyana’s development, Prime Minister emphasised.

He added that Guyana has significantly benefitted from Oruç’s expertise and wisdom.

Prime Minister Phillips underlined, “I wish to express our sincere gratitude to you for all the work you did in Guyana during your tenure…These efforts have borne fruit and ensure that progress across the country is not uneven and is aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

He further elaborated that the UN is an essential pillar of the multifaceted system, which for small states like Guyana, is a dispensable bulwark of security, independence and a platform for such states to play a fundamental role in global governance.

The prime minister remains confident that the productive dialogue, constructive partnership, forward-looking development strategies and consultative spirits that Guyana and the UN have fostered will continue under the new leadership.

“It is a relationship to which we ascribe the highest importance… The UN continues to be a strong and trusted partner of Guyana…I look forward to continuing our partnership with the UN through your successor as we strive to build an inclusive and prosperous Guyana,” the PM asserted.

Meanwhile, Oruç expressed gratitude to the government for honouring the UN and by extension her work.

She noted that it has been a privilege to serve in a country that has an ambitious, national development agenda to uplift the lives of its citizens.

“I am deeply humbled…It is rare in the career of a UN official to serve in a country with such an ambitious agenda, a strategic national development framework and a SDG enabling budget, a humanitarian stance towards all those who have reason to call Guyana home and a country with a seat at the UN top table. It is a UN dream,” she further stated.

Country Representative for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to Guyana, Dr Gillian Smith and World Bank Group Representative for Guyana, Diletta Doretti also delivered brief remarks at the ceremony.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh; Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira; Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, other government ministers, members of the diplomatic community were also present at the ceremony.