THE International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly -Guyana (IDPADA-G), on Sunday held its “One Stop Business and Family Welfare Conference” at Dolphin Secondary School, Broad Street, Charlestown, to which hundreds turned out to be empowered.

The event started at 1:00pm targeting hundreds of residents of Georgetown, particularly those within the southern section of the city.

Various government agencies were on hand to provide information, free services such as health care and housing assistance.

The Small Business Bureau, Central Housing and Planning Authority, Ministry of Citizenship (passport and birth certificates), Ministries of Public Health, Education, Social Protection, and New Guyana Marketing Corporation among other agencies, all had a presence at the event on Sunday.

Chief Executive Officer of IDPADA-G, Olive Sampson, told the Guyana Chronicle that the event was made possible through the collaboration of all African agencies, at the request of President David Granger, in response to the United Nations (UN) mandate to confront the serious problems facing people of African descent everywhere in the world, where they are oppressed and marginalised.

She added that the conference aims to bring government services directly to the people, and to also find out from them through a health survey, what they are facing with respect to access to health care by providers.

Sampson pointed out that they have partnered with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

She pointed out that last year 35 conferences were held all across Guyana and that they will replicate that number and even double it this year.

Conference Coordinator of IDPADA-G Shequanda David, told the Guyana Chronicle that the event is a spin-off of conferences held before last year, and from those they added the family welfare feature to provide free health care to people.

Many of the visitors told this newspaper that they are very pleased with the reception they got, and more so happy they benefitted from much-needed free health services and information without any hassle.

The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in a Resolution (68/237) adopted on December 23, 2013. The theme of the International Decade is “People of African descent: Recognition, Justice and Development”.

The stated objectives of the International Decade for People of African Descent are to promote respect, protection and fulfilment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for people of African descent, as recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contributions of people of African descent to the development of societies; adopt and strengthen national, regional and international legal frameworks according to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and to ensure their full and effective implementation.