Learning Lab nears completion

With 95 percent of the new Learning Lab complete, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, engaged representatives from various disability organisations as well as Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, to garner input on the soon to be facility.

In an inspection of the facility, which is located at Mahaica, Minister Persaud explained, “This is a facility that involves a lot of stakeholders and as we move to completion and the formal opening of this facility, we invited some of the stakeholders to be fully involved in how we make this facility functional and operational. We want to ensure when the centre is fully set up, we cater for all the varieties of disabilities so that persons will feel comfortable in the environment.”

Programme Coordinator for the Guyana Society for the Blind, Ganesh Singh shared his thoughts on this move and said, “What we are seeing now is transformative and this building, from what I experienced will have a significant impact on the lives of people living with disabilities, there is now space, not just for training but recreational purposes where persons can develop and learn living skills and I must congratulate the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, the Honorable Dr. Vindhya Persaud for her vision for persons with disabilities. As we have seen since she assumed the portfolio, a lot of what is in the Guyana Persons with disabilities act 2010 as it relates to the social services portfolio would have been implemented. He added, “What we are seeing will definitely lift persons with disabilities out of poverty… this is really making the lives of persons with disabilities a better one, a more meaningful one, and are able

Senior Minister within the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , in the midst of a challenging global environment.

The minister was on Monday (May 1, 2023) delivering the opening remarks at the multistakeholder consultation on the presentation of Guyana’s Second Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal. The minister said, “This government has articulated a national development agenda that is very closely aligned with the SDGs. This comprehensive agenda is expected to be very substantial in us achieving these SDGs,” the minister said.

He pointed out that initiatives such as the Low Carbon Development Strategy, and the various sectoral policies, such as those related to ed- ucation or public infrastructure are indicative of these efforts.

However, despite this robust agenda, there have been many challenges to the achievement of these goals, such as the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic- the effects from which the country is still reeling.

The senior minister added that this multistakeholder engagement is not an isolated event. He said the government prides itself on a consultative approach to governance. It presents an opportunity for stakeholders to interact and give feedback based on the presentations made. “Our manifesto itself was prepared out of a consultative process. Our LCDS benefitted from national consultations, our various sector strategies and initiatives benefitted from consultations across the country, our national budgets saw input from several stakeholders, as well as our micro-level interventions undergo a consultative process,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and

Governance, Gail Teixeira, in providing an overview of Guyana’s International Reporting Obligations and Participation in the High-Level Political Forum, said reviews such as these are critical to ratify the various international treaties that the country has signed. She added that the SDGs pose many challenges, but the country is committed, through these international obligations to ensure progress and equality. Minister Teixeira said, “They are not easy goals, and it is not always easy to do all of them simultaneously. Every country is at a different level of development. We want to see our country move forward. So, once we sign these agreements, it allows us to measure what progress we are making.”

The summit will see Heads of State and government officials gathering at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to follow-up and review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).