Growing up in utter poverty in a logie at Port Mourant on a sugar plantation our revered late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan, had a first hand experience of exploitation, injustice and inequality which no doubt drove the passion in him to end this rapacious system and to improve the lives of the working- class people and the down-trodden.
The gunning down of the five Enmore Martyrs who were protesting the horrible working and living conditions which sugar workers were enduring was the last straw for Dr Jagan;and at their graveside in 1948 he made a pledge to dedicate his entire life to the struggle against exploitation and bondage. And he doggedly stuck to his promise against all odds. His long and hard struggle for the political, economic and social upflifting was epic and legendary which has earned him the title of “father of the Nation.”
But Dr Jagan was not  concerned about exploitation and social injustice only in Guyana.As a true internationalist he was also deeply concerned wherever this phenomenon manifested itself and therefore he always  weaved the local struggle with the international one. He firmly believed that there was a dialectical interconnection between exploitation at the global and local levels. As such, he became a firm advocate in the international arena for a New Global Human Order (NGHO) which he documented and presented to the UN and which is perhaps his last “gift” to mankind.
In proposing his NGHO, Dr Jagan in his passionate and characteristic style argued: “The spread of poverty, unchecked across geographical frontiers but particularly so in the poorest countries of the world, the continuous swelling of the ranks of the unemployed and those that are underemployed, even in situations of reasonably sustained economic growth, and the impact of these and other pressures on our societies, as a result of ongoing political, economic, ideological, ecological, social and cultural crises, has led to increasing social tensions, the undermining of traditional values and to the loss of direction.

“Solutions to these problems cannot be postponed. Continued inaction on the part of political leaders will result only in further disintegration and the eventual collapse of our social systems. We owe it to our peoples as well as to future generations, whose interests we must consider, to devise remedies that would lead to better lives, better societies and a better world. Indeed, this is a time for action–a time for urgent action!

“Ultimately, the resolution to these pressing problems lies in the actions of each of our governments at the national level and the response of the international community to what we do. After all, we live in an interdependent world–a world which is virtually a global village. Regrettably, modernisation and globalisation have led to widening gaps between the rich, the ‘haves’, and the ‘included’ and the poor, the ‘have-nots’ and the ‘excluded’ in both the North and South, and between the North and South. The globalisation of poverty is a reflection of underdevelopment, mounting population pressures, relentless environmental degradation, injustice and intolerance.”
So it is not surprising that the United Nations General Assembly has adopted the fifth edition of a Resolution titled, ‘The role of the United Nations in promoting a New Global Human Order (NGHO)’.
Sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Guyana to the United Nations, the Resolution was unanimously agreed Friday after several rounds of informal consultations, and raising more than 50 co-sponsors, including from within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and African, Asian and Arab countries..
Dr’ Jagan’s struggle for a better life for the poor and down- trodden has been certainly vindicated  by the UN as his NGHO won unanimous support at the UN which should make all Guyanese, regardless of political or other persuasions truly proud of this most historic  moment.