Youths devise campaign to erase racial tensions
A group of young people yesterday announced the launching of 'Holding on to Friendships', a campaign to promote racial harmony, with the main focus being youth involvement. Members of the group Rights of Children (ROC), which came into being last year, said they initiated this move because they were fed up of the racial tension in Guyana. At a press conference at the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), ROC members explained that over the last 18 months they have conducted a series of training programmes on the Convention on the Rights of the Child with over 50 groups and schools across Guyana. From these they have recognised that the youths of Guyana are crying out for change with the racial situation in the country. 'Holding on to Friendships' has as its aim to challenge the adult society to be more sensitive in their behaviour towards people of other races and encourage young people not to allow racism to hinder friendships. ROC holds the view that the campaign will be successful because young people can more easily network with other young people and be a force for change and therefore can influence attitudes of adults. The campaign will be officially launched on November 20, which coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and will run for a six-month period. The group is hoping that the success of the campaign will be so encouraging that it will run beyond the ascribed time frame. ROC has identified three main activities that it will engage in. The first is to immediately declare Guyana a race-free zone. To achieve this the ROC will invite all organisations to pledge themselves to being race free. Organisations will sign pledge certificates, which would be placed on the walls of their buildings for all to see. The certificate contains the terms of the pledge. Organisations can collect pledge certificates from ROC at the GHRA Centre, 56 'B' Hadfield Street and Austin Place, Georgetown and from other centres around the country. ROC will keep a register for all organisations. On November 20, names of all pledging organisations will be announced. Between now and November ROC will encourage business places, mini buses, religious institutions, political parties, sports clubs, international organisations and media houses to sign up and become race free zones. Bumper stickers and television and radio advertisements between now and the launch of the campaign on November 20, are their medium of keeping the campaign in the eye of the public. The second activity is to paint some 20 murals in different parts of the country and public walls under the theme 'The Colour of Friendship'. The programme will be supervised by a team of art teachers. The first murals will be unveiled on November 20. The third activity will be a song competition, 'Rhymes and Rhythms on Race', where the winning entries will be performed at a concert and rally at the end of the campaign. For more information on 'Holding on to Friendships' the public can contact members of the group on telephone numbers 61789 and 74911. The ROC comprises a group of teenagers who are in high school, UG and youth groups. It operates out of the GHRA Centre.
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