The group responsible for implementing the programme under the UN-designated International Year for People of African Descent (IYPAD), exotically named the “Central Committee,” along with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, have come up with an interesting programme of activities to mark the occasion. It includes art and fashion exhibitions, plays, food and book fairs, and “keynote addresses and discussions.” There are other events that catch the eye too……… like “tours of Guyana slave routes,” “Ghana Day,” and “philosophy and religious sermons.” The year will also feature “land conferences,” “boat building workshops” and workshops on the country’s coconut industry. There’s more! If all goes well we should also see the arrival in Guyana of “medical brigades from Africa and the diaspora” and a “prisoner reintegration” initiative that seeks to reform incarcerated African Guyanese and restore them to productive pursuits.
According to the policy document the successful implementation of the programme will require a considerable bureaucracy including A SECRETARIAT, A COORDINATOR, “with adequate and appropriate staff,” two PROJECTS OFFICERS and “an adequate and accessible operational environment” and ‘adequate resources for operational purposes.”
There must, however, be a considerable worry at this stage that all is far from well with the pace at which the programme is moving. The initial hoo, hah over whether all of the right groups and individuals had been included in the official planning has meant that almost two months into the Year for People of African Descent not much of substance has been accomplished. According to the policy document the Secretariat, Coordinator et al ought to have been place preferably……..before October 31, 2010.”
Of course, the various conferences, and visits, and workshops, fairs and exhibitions must all be planned…….and planning takes time……….and this year is an election year.
