-pledges its support
The European Union (EU) has underscored the importance of an active civil society to the overall building and stability of the country and as such, has pledged its support to such organisations here.
“Success also comes through partnerships and we have seen tremendous progress in our cooperation with civil society. The EU is a strong believer in and supporter of a vibrant civil society, both in the EU and abroad. Why? Because civil society allows citizens to take an active part in contributing to the political agenda,”
European Union Ambassador René van Nes told attendees at the Europe Day event hosted with the European Chamber (EuCham), on Thursday evening at the Herdmanston Lodge.
“This improves the quality of policy formulation, and it strengthens the bond between the government and its people. This is why we are proud to support some successful projects implemented by ChildLinK, the Amerindian Peoples’ Association, and the Guyana Marine Conservation Society,” he added.
The ambassador pointed out that civil society projects supported here range from empowering boys and men as advocates in preventing child sexual abuse, supporting communities to respond to the COVID crisis and assisting migrants, to strengthening natural resources governance in the Barima-Mora passage.
The EU also will soon embark on a project with HIAS [Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society] Europe to protect and empower vulnerable women and girls, including migrants and returnees.
Referring to an essay competition the EU delegation held for secondary and university students, van Nes noted that one commonality from entries was “the warm plea of these Guyanese youngsters in favour of true democracy.”
“Yes, it can be cumbersome and complex. Yes, you need strong institutions and permanent attention to the rule of law. Yes, you need citizen engagement, and you might encounter people that do not agree with you, but that’s okay because it can only improve your decision making,” he reasoned.
“The young writers all embraced democracy as the only way forward to achieve freedom, unity and prosperity. These are all founding values of the European Union, and it makes me personally very proud to see these values resonate in the hearts and minds of Guyanese youth,” he added.
The ambassador reminded that the EU will be holding its parliamentary elections next month, while letting it be known that the European Parliament is the world’s only directly elected transnational assembly, and also one of the world’s largest directly elected parliaments. With some 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India’s.
On the topic of elections, he reminded that the Government of Guyana had officially invited the European Union to observe next year’s General and Regional Elections and it has accepted.
Favourably
In February of this year, van Nes had announced that “government has now indicated its very keen interest to have another EU Election Observation Mission for the general elections of 2025,” saying that the “EU will look favourably at that expression of interest as soon as we have the paperwork to look at that.”
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had explained that the invitation was sent out early because of the EU’s planning structure. “In an engagement with the European Union, we were told that there are a large number of countries that are requesting missions to observe their elections, and they [the EU] have a long planning cycle; so, if we’re interested, we should send an early invitation. I think that has been done, because we want as many international observers in Guyana as possible,” he had said following the announcement.
Meanwhile, the EU envoy also reflected on its EU Global Gateway Trade mission here which attended by some 25 companies from nine European countries. It was during that mission that the EU/Guyana Chamber of Commerce was launched. Later this year there will be a follow-up trade mission as van Nes reported that from a survey conducted after the visit, some 90 per cent of participating companies declared their interest in doing business with Guyana “and several have already put their feet on Guyanese soil.”
In July, the EU under the Global Gateway Initiative, will also partner with Guyana, the Caribbean Community, and the Caribbean Export and Development Agency, to host the Caribbean Investment Forum here.
“This major event will see insightful discussions on sustainable agriculture, green economy transition, and the digitalization of business, and delve into the array of investment opportunities that can be found across the Caribbean and Guyana,” van Nes added.
