TOSHAOS from more than 200 Amerindian communities across Guy ana will meet at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) for the Nation al Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference beginning to day. The annual event will conclude on Friday, May 23 and is being held under the theme “Robust Governance for Sustainable Village De velopment.” The conference is or ganised by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs in col laboration with the National Toshaos Council. The National Toshaos Council is the only consti tutionally recognised body that represents the rights and interests of the nation’s First Peoples.
In addition, the conference provides elected Amerindian leaders with a platform to directly engage members of government to discuss areas of development and advocate for initiatives or programmes geared to wards the unique needs of their communities. The NTC Conference will open with a key address by President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, followed by cultural presentations, adoption of the NTC agenda, and an interactive engagement session. The remaining days leading up to the close will allow toshaos to participate in discussions with ministers from the various sectors, including health, education, housing, infrastructure, and public service, among others. On the final day, President Ali will return to deliver the closing remarks to wrap up a successful week of strategic consultations which may lay the groundwork for further collaboration. Meanwhile, the govern ment, in its 2025 national fiscal plan allocated funds to support the staging of this year’s conference. This reflects the gov ernment’s commitment to ensuring the voices of Am erindians are meaningfully represented in national pol icymaking. speaking to the govern ment’s unwavering com mitment, since returning to office in August 2020, billions have been injected into development initia tives across all 240 Am erindian communities. The intervention is reflect ed in areas like health, education, infrastructure, housing, water, and elec tricity. (DPI)