PRIME MINISTER Moses Nagamootoo on Thursday said social cohesion is no longer a dream but a growing movement which gives much hope to the future.

The prime minister expressed these sentiments at Social Cohesion Day held at the National Culture Centre and had in attendance members of the Government and diplomatic corps, students, teachers and other special invitees.

Guided by the theme, “Celebrating Lasting Relationships in a Diverse Society”, this year marks the third observance of Social Cohesion Day which was first introduced on May 11th, 2016.

The event is arranged annually by the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Social Cohesion Culture, Youth and Sport and signifies the unifying of all Guyanese.
Delivering the feature remarks, Prime Minister Nagamootoo said Guyana as a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation must fight against the marginalisation, exclusion and discrimination against any group of persons.

During his address, he spoke of the recent pirate attack on 20 fishermen, mostly Guyanese in Surinamese waters, resulting in the deaths of several of them.

“It is enough for fishermen to contend with the angry and sometimes treacherous waves and unfriendly weather as they risk their lives which always place their loved ones in anxiety and uncertainty. But to share the sea with murderous men is at the root of the tragedy that has taken too many lives,” he remarked.

These actions, he said, can have “far reaching effects on social cohesion” and, at such a time, citizens must stand in solidarity with the loved ones of the victims.
At that point in his speech, the prime minster requested members of the audience to stand and observe a moment of silence in respect to the memory of the murdered fishermen.
Nagamootoo then pointed out that history shows that with the absence of social cohesion, there have been wars, mass migrations and suffering which is one of the reasons the Government thought it best to establish a social cohesion ministry.
He reminded that May 11 also marks the anniversary of the 2015 elections when citizens elected a “rainbow coalition” of six parties which unified with a mission to safeguard the “cultural strands of our society”.

OVERARCHING ROLE
“When we formed our new Government in 2015, we identified social cohesion as having an overarching role in unifying our beloved country. Some of the usual critics and cynics laughed at us but here we are, after three years, celebrating social cohesion, not as a ministry, but as a way of life,” Nagamootoo said.

Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. George Norton assured the audience of youths that social cohesion and harmony are achievable.
He spoke of the Government’s progress in dispersing messages of unity, not only to easily accessible regions, but to the furthest areas of Guyana.
“We will continue to go to the far flung regions of our country and the coastland to reach and involve all. No one will be excluded or marginalised from the social cohesion process,” he said.

He stated that as the country perches on the precipice of new wealth, it is his desire to see all Guyanese move towards a similar destiny for the benefit of each citizen, despite existing differences.

“I would like to see us develop new levels of peace and harmony here at home… there is overwhelming evidence that Guyanese want to coexist in peace, Guyanese want us all to unite. I believe if we all commit to doing so, what we can as individuals, as moral groups, as communities, then there would be no fear that social cohesion will ever evade us as a society,” he said.

At the event, several presentations in drama, dance, poetry, song and music came from a number of schools, non-government associations and other individuals.
Also attending the programme were Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland; Mayor of Georgetown, Patricia Chase-Green; and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Akbar Khan, among others.