THE Ministry of Social Cohesion will, tomorrow, be hosting a Roundtable discussion at the Arthur Chung International Convention Centre.

According to Minister Amna Ali, the Roundtable, which is expected to bring together more than fifty organisations, is aimed at providing ideas and programmes for the crafting of the ministry’s five-year strategic plan.

According to Minister Ali, the UNDP and the British High Commission have been instrumental in providing the funding for the event, which was preceded by consultations across the country.

We applaud the ministry for taking this most necessary initiative. This is one of the new ministries created by the new Government. In fact, unlike the others which have merely been renamed or reconstituted, the Ministry of Social Cohesion is really a new entity.

Never has there been a ministry directly tasked with this vital area of our collective experience. The minister has, therefore, done the right thing – solicit the input of representative organisations in conceptualising the work of the ministry.

It is another small but welcomed step in making good on the Government’s promise to expand the democratic process beyond intra-governmental consultations.

President David Granger is slated to address the meeting. Hopefully he would use the opportunity to articulate both the thinking behind the creation of the Ministry and his own vision for Social Cohesion.

As the leader of the Government, his charge to the participants should set the tone for the discussions to follow. Also slated to speak is veteran international civil servant, Sir Shridath Ramphal, whose global experience makes him a vital resource.

Social Cohesion is a logical outgrowth of our diverse society. This diversity which arose out of our historical evolution has not always worked to our benefit. While ethnic diversity could be a blessing, it often becomes a source of tension and conflict. Here in Guyana, we have had our fair share of those.

While past Governments have employed the rhetoric of unity, none has really made the work of national reconciliation a deliberate aspect of its day-to-day governance. President Granger and his Government should, therefore, be commended for this bold step.

Of course, some would question whether this should even be Government’s work. We strongly believe it is. While Government cannot bring about reconciliation, it can and should facilitate the process. This function arises from the larger role of Government in promoting and advancing social equality. As we have previously editorialised, there can be no meaningful social cohesion outside of social equality. We hope that this forms part of the discourse at the Roundtable.
Guyana’s forward movement in all dimensions – economically, politically, culturally, socially – is hinged on national reconciliation. In fact reconciliation is a constant in ethnically plural societies such as ours. Reconciliation should not only wait on or follow conflict; it should also anticipate and aim to prevent conflict.
Ethnic diversity is not the only cause of conflict, but most of the world’s conflicts arise from ethnically diverse societies. In our case it is now broadly accepted that our socio-economic development has been severely hampered by our ethnic problems. There is no magic in ethnic unity, but if we could come to some sense of shared national purpose, our country could break out of its economically impoverished state at a considerably faster rate.
While we stress the need for ethnic cohesion, it is not the only area of social tension or potential tension. Perhaps of equal importance is tension arising out of social class and its historical inequalities which cut across ethnic lines. As the gap between the rich and the poor has widened in recent times, the perceptions and counter perceptions of the haves and the have-nots towards each other have magnified.
Then we have the problem of gender inequality, one which is often subsumed in the discourses of race and class. Yet it is the area in which violence is most persistent. The phenomenal growth in the incidence of domestic, sexual and other related violence against women and to some extent against men must not escape the discussions tomorrow.
Finally, while we need to focus on the need for inter-group reconciliation, equal emphasis should be placed on intra-group cohesion. Often our ethnic groups experience their own conflicts within the collectives. We have mentioned class divisions, but religious problems are not far behind. Religious bigotry is a fact of life in Guyana that is often obscured by other forms of conflict.
The work of reconciliation and cohesion is enormous. We wish the roundtable well and urge the participants to use the occasion constructively. We hope that there would be less bombastic declarations and more constructive discussions. Perhaps such a meeting should have been spread over two or three days. But, at least they have made a start.