WITH more than 30 consultation exercises completed, the Ministry of Social Cohesion’s draft strategic plan 2017-2021 has moved one step closer towards being completed. This is according to Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton, who announced at a press conference on Wednesday that stakeholders will meet today at Marriott Hotel to validate contents of the documents.
The Minister revealed that 1,485 stakeholders would have participated in the 30 consultations which were held in all ten administrative regions in the country. The document examines five thematic areas which include: promoting harmonious ethnic and race relations, promotion of social inclusion and tolerance, promotion of economic equity and opportunities for all, strengthening inclusive and participatory governance and enhancement of citizen safety and security. Development and implementation of the plan is being supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Minister Norton explained that those consultations would have garnered tremendous support and much input was made. Media consultations were also conducted via radio and social media. However, the Minister noted that the validation exercise which will be held today is to provide an opportunity for further fine tuning of the document.
According to the Minister, once the validation exercise is completed, the Ministry will move to finalise the plan, then have another round of engagement with stakeholders, after which they will move towards implementation of the document.
Programme Coordinator at the Ministry, Sharon Patterson, also pointed out that once validation is achieved, the Ministry will move towards capacity building for regional and municipal officials and other persons who are going to be involved in a closer way with that Ministry.
She stated too that the Ministry will also examine programmatic actions at the community level to build a unified Guyana.
“…we will be working with communities so barriers can be removed and we can work toward building a unified Guyana.”
According to the Social Cohesion Ministry, the Strategic Plan was released to the public on Tuesday last to allow for national input. It was pointed out that lead Consultant, Dr. Theo Gittens, who is responsible for the compilation of the plan, has reviewed the comments received following the publication of the draft document. Those comments which were provided to the Ministry before March 10, are also reflected in the Draft Plan.