GUYANA’s final national cultural policy document will hopefully be completed and delivered to President David Granger early in the new year as the Department of Culture, on Tuesday, moved closer to this with the hosting of a second series of consultations.

The three-day consultation was hosted at Tower Suites and was organised in collaboration with the government and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Its target group comprised creative artists and cultural stakeholders from government agencies, the private sector, and non-governmental stakeholder organisations.

The consultations aim to improve accessibility to the arts and creative activities for citizens and to promote the artistic musical, ethnic, literary and other experiences of the population in a country.

Spearheading the consultations are Director of Culture (ag) Tamika Boatswain and Cultural Policy Adviser, Ruel Johnson.

Delivering opening remarks at the event, Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton said that he is proud of the progress being made under the current administration towards a national cultural policy.

He explained that the need for the policy originated from the vision of President Granger who had championed the initiative since his days in the opposition.

In the joint A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) manifesto launched prior to the May 2015 national elections, the coalition had declared it was “committed to a cultural policy which takes into account our rich and varied heritage, and which works to employ culture, not as a means of division, but as a catalyst for mutual understanding and social cohesion.”

With Guyana experiencing cultural changes which have engendered more heightened participation from various groups and in international forums, the departure of creative artists and artistes, and the refusal of some of our major creators to participate locally because of lack of relevant policy, this project is seen as vital for a breakthrough within the field.

Minister Norton acknowledged that development of the policy has taken some time, but noted that this was due to budgetary constraints, the availability of time in relation to other pertinent national issues and the unstable political situation during the past year.

“Still, we are here today and I am proud that this next significant step is occurring under my tenure as Minister with responsibility for Culture,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cultural Programme Specialist at UNESCO’s Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean, Yuri Peshkov, stated in remarks that the organisation believes that culture is central to the development process to any country in the 21st century. He explained that it is relevant for poverty reduction, education, gender equality, empowerment of minority groups, climate change and more.

“In a culturally rich and diverse Guyana, also the wider Caribbean, placing culture at the heart of development constitutes an essential investment in the future,” he said.

“Guyana, in this regard, has a unique opportunity to blend their[sic] rich cultural traditions and further develop the cultural dialogue and creativity for the protecting of cultural diversity.”