The Inter-Religious Organization of Guyana (IRO), on Tuesday, unveiled plans for the observance of World Interfaith Harmony Week at a press conference at the Ethnic Relations
Commission (ERC) Headquarters in Queenstown. The United Nations General Assembly passed a Resolution on October 20, 2010, proclaiming the first week of February every year as World Interfaith Harmony Week among all
religions, faiths and beliefs.
Guyana, as one of the 29 co-sponsors of this Resolution, has established a planning committee to engage a wide cross-section of stakeholders from the religious community and other sectors to begin planning for this event nationwide.
During the meeting, Chairman of the ERC and the Public Relations Officer of the IRO, Bishop Juan Edghill, revealed that there are nine events planned to commemorate this event which will be celebrated across the country.
He said, “The Government of Guyana has written to a number of religious organizations inviting them to produce a plan and the IRO has taken the lead and involved a number of
stakeholders to formulate a plan for the week.”
He pointed out that various committee members will be tasked with organizing the different aspects of the observances during the designated week.
The programme includes a State breakfast, a series of harmony lectures in public and private schools across the country, a harmony walk and a cultural presentation, a tree
planting ceremony, a mini exhibition, an interfaith harmony talk show, extending harmony messages in places of worship, interfaith harmony activities across the ten regions and the displaying of the chosen harmony colour (gold) to be worn on a particular day.
The committee members include IRO Treasurer, Ms. Joyce Nauth; Christian representative Pastor Onesi La Fleur; Public Relations Officer at the Central Islamic Organization of
Guyana (CIOG), Mohammed Jamal Imran; and IRO Co-Chairman Ronald Mc Garrell, all of whom represent various religious bodies in Guyana.
They are asking all Guyanese to participate in the activities to promote harmony in all communities across the nation.
The aim of the UN resolution is to encourage all states to support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world’s churches,
mosques, synagogues, temples and other places of worship.