The Women’s Progressive Organization (WPO)  extends warm fraternal greetings to the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO) on the occasion of its 60th anniversary today.
These 60 years were fraught with many difficulties and challenges since the decision to create a “junior section of the Party” was taken at the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Second Congress in 1952. But these have also been 60 years of great achievement by the PYO for Guyanese youth.
On the 6th September ,1952, the Pioneer Youth League (PYL) was established, seven months before the first ever national elections under the system of universal adult suffrage.   Young people for the very first time were allowed to vote at the age of 21, even though they did not own property or have a high-paying job.  This was a catalyst which helped to propel the organization forward in helping the party to mobilize young people to come out and vote.
All Guyanese who have followed the country’s history would have recalled the triumph of the PPP at the first ever elections held under adult suffrage in which the PPP won 18 out of 24 seats.   Because of its activism, the PYL developed quickly into a dynamic organization with groups around the country.
When the constitution was suspended in 1953, the PYL was banned, but the organization resurfaced with a number of new names, until it assumed the name Progressive Youth Organization (PYO) which it has retained up to now.
During the six decades of its existence, the young people in the PYO, in each decade, undertook their political activism with commitment, dedication and personal sacrifice.
The organization supported the PPP while it was in and out office at the various junctures in ensuring that the youths were organized to fight for their specific needs. In the periods of the PPP in office, the PYO greatly helped the government to deliver many of the important measures to satisfy the many needs of Guyanese youth.
A most crucial period for the organization was from 1964 -1992, when the PNC government sought to marginalize and alienate the organization.
Notwithstanding the oppression, the organization was able to stay alive and remained relevant with strong and dynamic leadership.
We salute all the members from the formation of the organization who struggled with the party to make Guyana a better place.  We extend our sincerest appreciation to all those who worked beyond the call of duty when the going was tough; and we express our heartfelt gratitude to the thousands of foot soldiers whose names are too numerous to mention, for their dedication and commitment.
The bonds of fraternity between the PYO and WPO have always been a strong and enduring one. We recall the collaboration in the formation of the Pioneer Organization of the PYO (POP) which resulted in levels of cooperation between the PYO and WPO.
Many of us in the WPO who joined the PYO as young girls recall with nostalgia the common bonds of friendship, whether it was on the picket lines, the days of sports, the selling of newspapers at the markets, the gymkhanas, the Valentine dances, or in the other events that we shared. Those periods are forever etched in our hearts.
As we pay tribute to the PYO on this momentous occasion, we once again would like to sincerely thank those who made it possible to arrive at this juncture. The challenges of yesteryear and today are different and we are quite confident that the organization will be able to surmount all new and ongoing challenges for it to continue on its historical path of helping to make a better Guyana for the young people, as well as for all Guyanese.
Long live the PYO!