Group to propose village councils for historical African-Guyanese communities
- as part of decade for people of African descent
The International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G) will be hosting its second annual conference today when participants will discuss a number of issues that Afro-Guyanese are facing, in addition to finalising a strategic plan for the remaining years of the decade.
At the conference, which will be held at the Guyana Industrial Training Center, IDPADA-G, which comprises 48 organisations, will report on the work it has done since its establishment in 2017, the organisation said at a press conference on Friday.
According to the Chairman of IDPADA-G Vincent Alexander, the organisation will also present two major proposals which members think will have an impact on all Guyanese. The first is the reintroduction of the village council to various African-Guyanese communities. Alexander said that African-Guyanese have lost control of the lands that they bought with their own money during the post-emancipation period and IDPADA-G thinks that it is necessary and critical to reintroduce village councils in those villages so they can maintain control of their land. Queenstown, a village located on the Essequibo Coast, is one of the villages that will benefit from the proposal if the government agrees with it.
The second proposal is the reintroduction of Guyanese history in secondary schools and in the curriculum, which IDPADA-G thinks will benefit all Guyanese. “Guyanese history must be taught in secondary schools from at least Form One to Three because it is not being taught presently,” Alexander said.
In addition, IDPADA-G will be finalising the involvement of its 48 organisations in the strategic plan developed for the years 2020 to 2024, when the decade ends.
Alexander said that before drafting the strategic plan, IDPADA-G consulted the African-Guyanese communities and various organisations including the African Cultural and Development Association. He highlighted that the bulk of the work is being done by the 48 organisations and IDPADA-G’s primary function is to facilitate their operations and provide an opportunity for collaboration along with providing an interface with the State in pursuit of justice, recognition and development for African-Guyanese. Two representatives of each organisation will be attending the meeting.
President David Granger has been invited to speak at the conference.
The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024, was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in a resolution adopted on December 23rd, 2013. The declaration addressed the question of the state of African people in the diaspora.
In response to the declaration, work commenced by bringing together all the available African-Guyanese organisations in Guyana to chart a course for the decade, Alexander said. In 2017, IDPADA-G identified a coordinating council and the chairperson and last year, it established a Secretariat, appointing members of the executive body including the Chief Executive officer, who is currently Olive Simpson. During the same year, they received the first subvention from the government, which was continuing with the commitment that the previous government made in observance of the decade.
The first annual general meeting was held in September 2018. At that meeting, the coordinating council and 13 sub-committees were formed, Alexander recalled. Despite the UN’s declaration to tackle a number of thematic areas, IDPADA-G decided that they would address only four thematic areas, which are education, employment, equality and economics, for the betterment of African communities in Guyana. The decade was intended to deal with three overarching issues of recognition, justice and development of African people.
Since then, Alexander said, IDPADA-G has engaged in numerous activities - some of which needs the assistance or approval of the government - which will make a positive impact on the lives of AfricanGuyanese. Reintroduction of Guyanese history in secondary schools is one of the ways that IDPADA-G is addressing the question of recognition.
Alexander also highlighted that conferences were held around the country to bring together people of African descent for the purpose of informing and educating them. Personnel from the National Insurance Scheme, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Small Business Bureau, among others, were taken to those conferences to speak with the people on various
issues regarding their respective fields.
Business conferences for farmers and fruit vendors were also held, with the recognition that the growth and development of the African-Guyanese community would depend on the organisation that they are already working with. In addition, two workshops were held on organisational development in hopes that participants will develop skills to form and lead their own organisations.
IDPADA-G also formed a credit union which members of the African Guyanese community were invited to join. The credit union has gained a lot of interest which was shown in the number of applications received, Alexander revealed. He said that the credit union is currently being processed for registration and he is confident that it will be approved since they have fulfilled the requirements that the regulators required for its official establishment. “We have membership and management committees so we are merely awaiting the finalisation by the relevant authorities,” Alexander explained.
He added that they have participated in all Emancipation Day celebrations since IDPADA-G’s establishment and books on the history of AfricanGuyanese have been written. IDPADA-G is being funded from government as well as non-governmental sources. The monies are used to execute various projects.