• underscores collaboration with faith-based organisations to support families, children and communities

MINISTER within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy, on Sunday reaffirmed the Government of Guyana’s commitment to working closely with churches, mosques, temples, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to drive social development and strengthen the moral fabric of the nation.

Speaking at the opening of the One With Me Ministry Care Centre in Diamond, East Bank Demerara, McCoy highlighted the role of faith-based organisations in protecting children, supporting women, and fostering community growth.

Emphasising the government’s focus on extending care and opportunity to all citizens, McCoy pointed to initiatives such as free education, the Because We Care cash grant, and training programmes as examples of deliberate efforts to ensure families and communities thrive. He assured that the government will continue to back faith-based organisations, describing them as essential partners in maintaining values rooted in love, service, and social responsibility.

Speaking at the opening on Sunday, Minster McCoy shared that Guyana’s churches, mosques, masjids, and NGOs are steeply involved in work that truly represents the government’s interest in humanity and its interest in people.

Citing the newly established faith-based venture, Minister McCoy added that the government sets out to work with universal rules of taking care of people, adding, “Because the government sets out to share and to manifest the universal values of taking care of people, of taking care of our children and our women, to make sure that they have the means of succeeding, that their families can flourish.” This mission, he added, is what has shaped many of the government’s work and policies. Highlighting a few of these policies and their impact, he said adding, “When we design policies and initiatives and programmes, they are all aimed to achieve good for the benefit of people: to ensure that families have more money in their pocket, that families can help their children stay in school and remain in school.”

Highlighting partnerships and opportunities through ventures such as free tertiary education and training programmes by the Board of Industrial Training and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Minister McCoy said that the church can be a partner in this holistic shift.

As he added, “The church for us can be that true partner in the maintenance and sustenance of our moral values and our value system. All of us have cause to be very worried at the many things we see around us today in our society, the social ills that affect us in our society.”

Highlighting one of the social challenges the government is working to combat, Minister McCoy said that dangerous driving is causing harm not only to road users, but to their families and Guyana at large. “When it has to do with the culture of those who drive on our roadways, which affects practically all of us, and our attitude on the road, that attitude should concern us seriously, because it affects our children,” he said.

Shifting his focus to the gender equality gaps and strides Guyana has made in recent years, he added that while the country is doing well in the realm of women’s empowerment, improved inclusion and support of men would make a significant impact.

“While we have been doing well as a society in terms of the work we have done to elevate women and to bring about equality and to promote the interests of women and to make sure that they are celebrated and elevated,” he further shared, “On the flip side, men become a serious concern in our society because too many men are falling by the wayside. And trust me, what the church is doing here today and the achievements that they are able to celebrate here, we could achieve, we could be celebrating this 100 times, and perhaps 1,000 times more if men take up their responsibility and do what they ought to do.”

Appealing to the audience, Minister McCoy highlighted the importance of well-maintained public spaces, emphasising the role that all Guyanese play in preserving these spaces. He further explained the significant role that these spaces play in collective development, noting that they are places that facilitate and help all members of society. Moreover, Minister McCoy shared that the push for a relationship with the state is not a new one, but one previously outlined by the government.

Reinforcing the government’s commitment to continue this push, Minister McCoy stated, “You have my full commitment, our full commitment as a government. We will never let you down. We will have your back—the backs of all our people, our churches.”

He further shared that, “Because in our manifesto, we actually said that we want to create a strong, formidable, unbreakable partnership with the church so that we can work together to take care of the social ills among us, so that we can help our women climb out of their tragedies and travails in their experiences of domestic violence, that we can truly help our children to make the best decisions.”