CABINET has approved the design and activities of two components of the $300M United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Leadership and Democracy (LEAD) Project that had been halted to facilitate talks between the Government of Guyana and the US Embassy in Georgetown. 

Furthermore, Cabinet has also approved tools and governance mechanisms that would be associated with the implementation of the two components, one of which deals with matters surrounding the strengthening of the National Assembly and the other with civic education and support for Local Government Elections.
Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon made the announcement yesterday at post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President, in Georgetown.
According to him, last June 18, the US authorities were officially notified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cabinet’s decisions made last June 10 about the proposed Government of Guyana/USAID Project.
There remain a number of components in excess of two, and so the engagement between the Government and the US authorities will continue, Luncheon said. “Some of those areas not addressed as yet include support for political parties. These are outstanding in the sense that they have not been brought into the ambit of a specific component around which mutually accepted agreements can be made. There are outstanding issues that are now being revisited to have a mutually acceptable design,” Luncheon explained.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt told the Chronicle yesterday, in an invited comment, that the talks between himself and Dr. Luncheon over the past two months have been very productive.
“We are still to wrap up the component dealing with women and youth engagement in civil society, and I do hope we are able to move forward in this area as well, given the critical role of young people and building for the future of the country, and the fact that women for so long have been excluded worldwide from their role in civil society…these are important elements as well.
“We are pleased that we have been able to forge this agreement and move forward with the Government’s active participation in the components we agreed to so far,” Hardt s