Dear Editor,
There is an aspect of development that many countries are beginning to take advantage of. It is called Diaspora or transnational community participation in development. This aspect of development recognizes that outside of the “Home” country there exist massive pools of skilled human resources that have the potential to make a tremendous contribution in the development of the “Home” country. The common question is how best do we organise and use the Diaspora’s contributions towards development. It is recognized that historically there has always been an important relationship between globalization and the movement of people; that while people move in search of opportunities elsewhere and have attained further education and developed their skills, they retained important links between their home country and host country. This insight has particularly important implications for Guyana.
Already Guyanese, like many other peoples living abroad, make tremendous contributions to the sustainable livelihood of Guyanese in Guyana, through massive remittances and other project contributions. However, Guyanese in the Diaspora often feel grossly under-utilized. Not only is this significant pool of skilled Guyanese under-utilized they are also under-valued and under-recognized. When more countries are taking advantage of their transnational communities, Guyana has no policy as far as I know to determine the potential, scale, scope and impact of this community in developmental activities. At the moment there is exclusive reliance by the government on international donor organizations and their overpaid consultants to generate capital and formulate development policies.
Presumably there is more preference for these actors in development. It has to be recognized that the Diaspora offers a variety of skills and have the advantage of familiarity with the terrain in which the need for development assistance exists. Therefore government must develop means by which the skills that exist in the Diaspora can complement other development actors in common efforts to eliminate poverty and promote development.
Guyanese will continue to migrate in search of opportunities in other countries, especially if the cost of living continues to increase and employment opportunities remain scarce. The truth is Guyana is among the highest per capita migrating territories. This fact has even received special mention from the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. The term “Brain Drain” is often used to categorize countries like Guyana that are losing their skilled human resources to more developed territories. With the recognition of the potential for Diaspora participation in development, academics have begun to use the term “Brain Circulation” instead. This means that countries do not have to suffer brain drain when they can circulate the brain in the host countries back to the home country. Another term used to describe this phenomenon is trans-nationalism, “the process whereby trans-migrants forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that connect their society of origin with the societies of settlement through social fields – familial, economic organizational, religious and political.”
In fact the donor community has begun to advocate for the better use of the Diaspora in development activities. Asian countries’ exponential economic growth rate can be traced to the important role of the Diaspora in the transfer of technologies, capital, labour and foreign direct investments (FDI).
The lack of organization of the Guyanese Diaspora exists because of lingering ethnic cleavages. Many Indian Guyanese overseas still carry the baggage of Burnham era marginalization of Indians, and as a consequence blame African Guyanese for their support of that regime. While many African Guyanese feel that the present administration is discriminatory against African Guyanese in Guyana and as a consequence blame Indian Guyanese for their continued support for the PPP regime. As a result, the Guyanese Diaspora suffers from a fractured existence that continues to hurt the country of Guyana and Guyanese people. The hardest venture, as I have found out, is to attempt to bring these two groups together on a sustained basis.
Last year I attended a discussion seminar organized by a Guyanese fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). At this seminar the sentiment was shared that because of the ethnic cleavage, Guyana does not have a Diaspora community as other countries know it. Yet in a room of about forty, it became quickly apparent as Guyanese introduced themselves, that skill resources were vast. I often meet with a group in the Washington DC area to discuss politics and other issues in Guyana. In this small group there is, a Professor of economics, a retired World Bank economist, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), a Computer Consultant, a Financial Analyst, and Business Owners; all of these people have a desire to serve their country, but there is no scheme to organize them. Not only is the government at fault but the opposition political parties remember the Diaspora only when they want to raise money during elections season.
My proposal would be to set up a skills resource mobilization data center, preferably at the airport so that when Guyanese visit, they would be directed to a portal where an attendee would take from them names, email addresses, job specification, and willingness to be a skilled contributor.
This data base would then be made available to all established organizations with developmental needs. For example, if the TUC or Red Thread wants assistance with setting up a computer network or training, they can access that data base for computer consultants who would be willing to come to Guyana to help or who have a scheduled vacation and would be willing to give some of their time and skills. Perhaps a website can be set up where Guyanese living overseas who are expected to visit can register if they have a willingness to help in any particular area.
Yours faithfully,
Dennis Wiggins
