A TWO-DAY caucus for Indigenous Peoples, commenced on Friday at the National Toshao Council (NTC) Secretariat, Hadfield Street, Georgetown where the expansion and development of the Indigenous communities are being addressed.

The event was supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Chair of NTC, Toshao Nicholas Fredricks said, as Indigenous People in Guyana, the NTC has a role to play especially in advocating for the proper development of the Indigenous communities and persons.

“That idea caused us to bring all the Indigenous representatives in Guyana under one roof, so we can have meaningful discussions and to come up with ways and ideas of how do we move our Indigenous advocacy and presence forward,” the NTC Chair said.
He said the NTC is proud to host the two-day event at the secretariat, where a plan will be formulated for the Indigenous caucus plan, taking into consideration all the different works occurring countrywide.

The NTC Chair said he is hoping that the occasion is not a ‘one-off’ event but, highlighted that ways and means for funding and processes on how plans are implemented and achieved are discussed.

According to IDB representative Sophie Makonnen, the workshop will identify various issues in the Indigenous community along with other stakeholders and the caucus will highlight the way forward.

“ I am pleased, and I have been in Guyana a long time, and one of the benefits of being here is seeing the evolution of these activities and something like a caucus and its development is important… the indication of the success of the caucus is that it will exist without the IDB,” the IDB representative noted.