IN 2015, President David Granger made social cohesion a national priority by creating a department mandated to ensure that all persons are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities necessary for enhancing their lives and creating a well-functioning society.

The concept of social cohesion is articulated in our national motto, “One People, One Nation, One Destiny” and enshrined in Article 13 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

President Granger reiterated this concept in his address at the opening session of the Social Cohesion Roundtable on September 3, 2015, which was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.

At that forum, the President said, “It is not sufficient to apply technocratically and bureaucratically sound policy frameworks, while disregarding people’s desire for inclusive political processes.” He explained that “cohesiveness cannot be nurtured in an unequal environment,” while noting the need to reduce the disparities between the hinterland and the coastland.

Mrs Natasha Singh-Lewis, Programme Coordinator (Ag) at the Department of Social Cohesion, said the Department is very keen on promoting inclusivity and equitable development.

“Whatever is available for the hinterland or the coastland should be available for everybody. Whatever is offered for the tertiary-level students, should be offered for all other students and so equal access to education, equal access to economic development; those are areas that we also want to promote,” she said.

The department has the following achievements to its credit: the implementation of a Five-Year Strategic Plan; an annual cultural extravaganza, Harmony Village, along with a roster of activities that celebrate differences and promote inclusion on Social Cohesion Day; additionally,the department has trained over 7,500 across the country to be social cohesion ambassadors.

Bringing religious groups together

Several core groups among the Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Rastafarian communities were also established.

The core groups are part of a mechanism that aims to include religious organisations in the planning and execution of their activities.

According to Mrs Singh-Lewis, it is religion that appeals to morality, tolerance and respect, which are critical factors in achieving a cohesive society.

“We have used religion as a very important tool and… in a very structured manner. We have organised four core groups…we are now in conversation with the B’hais and we have had conversations with the Faithists of Guyana,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mr Neil Bacchus, a representative of the Muslim core group, said he was happy to capitalise on the opportunity that the Department of Social Cohesion has provided to bring the Muslim community together.

“The Muslims have been working, but they have been working quietly and independently. The opportunity given by the department to bring the Muslim leadership to work together, I think that’s very good and it’s something we want to continue to embrace and move forward with in our country,” he said.

Mr Bacchus said one of the first initiatives the group has undertaken was to engage the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown about the conditions at Le Repentir Cemetery.He said the group made it clear that the current state of the cemetery was inappropriate for Muslim burials, which has resulted in the allocation of 28 “beds of land” for this purpose. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will soon be signed between the two parties.

Chairman of the Christian Core Group, Bishop Michael Pereira, said he believes that social cohesion must first be demonstrated in the home, particularly by the leadership of his group, before it is filtered to their demographic.

“If we are to achieve cohesion in the wider society as a Christian core group, that cohesion must be accomplished and sustained among us as a leadership team… My appeal is that we work beginning with the home – that is essential. If there is to be cohesion in the community, there must be cohesion in the home. Someone has said that “as goes the home, goes the community, as goes the community, so goes the church and as goes the church and the community, so goes the nation and by extension the world,” he said.

Bishop Pereira said he intends to use sport as a variable to get more young people involved. “We have to recognise that the youths have a critical role to play… We have lots of young people within the different churches that are very active in sports and we believe that in bringing together the churches from different denominations, that in itself is a powerful tool to enhance the message of social cohesion,” he said.

Involving Youth and Sport
According to Mrs. Singh-Lewis, religion, culture, youth and sport are important vehicles that can be used to achieve social cohesion. In this regard, the Department of Social Cohesion, in 2017, was incorporated with the Department of Culture, Youth and Sport, which previously fell under the purview of the Ministry of Education.

Mr Gordon Braithwaite is employed by the Department of Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport as a football coach, with responsibility for Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight). He says he has been coaching football for 44 years and has seen the positive impact that sport can have on social cohesion.

“Sports bring people together. It is a very effective thing for social cohesion in any part of the world and we need it as a developing country…I tell myself I’m not a coach, I’m a social worker… so when I go into the interior, it’s the same kind of thing: it’s people that don’t get a lot of coaching, they feel disenfranchised in some way and football can help; football promotes team-building, it’s the greatest team sport because no player can be successful without the other components of the team…We need more sport for social progression,” he said.

Another means of youth engagement is the inter-village exchange programme for capacity building and knowledge sharing; a programme exclusive to interior locations that caters for youths aged 14-25. Since 2017, over 350 young people spread across Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine); Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region Two) and Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight) have benefitted from the programme. It is an annual activity which provides learning opportunities in the areas of appropriate socialisation, volunteerism and entrepreneurship among other disciplines.

Strength in diversity
Mrs Singh-Lewis said people are now learning more about their differences and how it can be a strength and not a weakness. She is adamant that the differences in the demographic of the Guyanese society can be respected and celebrated and still serve to unify the country. Using the analogy of a salad, she explained that the beauty of Guyana is its diversity.

“If you’re going to make a fruit salad, you know the colour of the salad is what brings the mind to it, so we need all of the little things that are red and green and the other colours… I would like to see, in the short term, that we try to practise a little bit more respect for each other, so you understand that the Muslim child in the school should be given the opportunity to pray on Friday; the maturing Muslim child should be allowed to wear their beards… We understand that Rastafarian child should be allowed to wear their[sic] locks and to practise their religion, whether in schools or in society as a whole. We understand that in the schools when there are religious holidays, whether it’s a Christian-populated area or a Muslim-populated area or it’s a Hindu holiday, the children should be allowed to practise, they should not be deterred,” Mrs Singh-Lewis said.

Guyana’s human resource is its greatest asset. As the country prepares for first oil, the government remains committed to ensuring that all development plans are people-focused, so that all can benefit as Guyana transitions into a sustainable, oil-producing nation.