— President Ali hails launch of new UG master’s programme with regional focus

The University of Guyana (UG) on Monday launched a Master’s Degree in Strategic Development Studies amid the ever-growing need for cooperation and coordinated action on challenges facing various countries within the region.

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, who spoke at the launch, said the programme would contribute significantly to the regional integration process, since it is beneficial to the entire Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The new programme which falls under the Institute for Human Resilience, became the sixth master’s programme to be launched by the university within a year.

It aims to develop national analysts to evaluate and interpret the changes in regional, national and international affairs from the policy framework perspective, and equip them with the knowledge to critically analyse policy formulation, shared responsibility, threats challenges, and opportunities in these systems.

Owing to the programme’s agenda, President Ali, at the launch of the programme on Monday, said that he is confident it would benefit not just Guyana, but also its sister CARICOM states.

“The programme is not meant only for Guyanese. We’re hoping and the aim of this programme is for all of CARICOM to start it. Because all of us must be integrated into the regional plan the regional agenda. And I must say our new SG [Secretary General] is working hard on pushing this regional agenda. But we must first get at every level, especially at this level the level of universities, an interest in the regional agenda,” Dr Ali said.

He added that one of the major selling points of the programme is that its courses include real-life scenarios that are currently at play within the international system. This, he believes, would aid in developing the capability of each individual to strategically deal with those challenges and find lasting solutions.

The President noted that the hope is that those who pass through this programme will be in a position to apply themselves analytically to the different scenarios that are presented to the region as a whole.

The programme will equip its students with the understanding of treaties, agreements, and regional institutions, how they work, their weaknesses, their challenges, and their benefits.

All of this is in a bid to ensure that students of this master’s programme understand why there are, in many cases, variations of views on international matters.

President Ali highlighted that the programme serves to underscore the inner workings of countries and their international agreements and will seek to highlight strategic development solutions to issues regarding food security, climate change, water scarcity, as well as the inner workings of international institutions and treaties that affect same.

“The policymakers of the future must be able to understand how international organisations operate the institutions themselves, how critical are institutions to the whole framework of global development, and this programme will allow you to do that… [it will] allow you to learn about important international institutions not only the United Nations but also the Security Council, even UNICEF, and all the other umbrellas that play a role in advancing development,” Dr Ali said.

Vice-Chancellor of UG, Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin highlighted the importance of the programme at this pivotal juncture of Guyana’s development.

She said that this programme will equip future Guyanese leaders with the knowledge to advance the country’s agenda on the international platform.

The programme is expected to produce graduates who possess the competencies essential for analysing policies and practices of the contemporary environment to generate conceptual, theoretical, and practical solutions necessary for national development.

“For a country like Guyana, which is on the cusp of economic transformation, and emerging into an increasingly complex global and national political player, the question of safety and security is paramount and the leadership that can produce the results of safety, stability, and a resilient nation will be the leadership that will have the greatest positive impact on this country and this planet for decades to come,” she said.