At Hotel Tower conference
NGOs charged to make a difference in society
By Mark Ramotar
Guyana Chronicle
March 14, 2004
`...for us to begin to resolve our difficulties, we have to renew our efforts to search for, find, design and encourage participatory processes between constituencies defined as gender, occupation, sexuality, and perhaps above all others, as consumers'. - Hugh Cholmondeley
THE Carter Center and its partner groups, yesterday opened a two-day conference in Georgetown on issues of interest to Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Guyana, including participation in public policy, collaboration with government and the private sector, networking among NGOs, and the legal framework within which such organisations function.
The conference - 'Making a Difference Together' - is part of the Center's efforts to improve the influence of civil society in the formulation of public policy, implemented under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded programme 'More Responsive and Participatory Governance and Rule of Law in Guyana'.
The conference, which is being held at the Hotel Tower, marks the completion of the programme, which began in 2000.
Participants include up to 100 leaders of Non Governmental Organisations from across Guyana, as well as speakers from other Caribbean nations and organisations such as the Barbados-based Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), and the Society for Promotion of Education and Research (SPEAR) from Belize.
Guyanese organisations at the forum include the Guyana Association of Women's Lawyers, the Guyana Human Rights Association, NGO Forum of Guyana, and the Sustainable Development Networking Project (SDNP), among others.
Communications Consultant, Mr. Hugh Cholmondeley, in remarks at the opening of the conference, urged the participants to collectively search for imaginative, creative, practical and demonstrable ways to make a difference in society.
"We are all aware of the growing cracks of division and discord among our people (and) while we all make slow progress in several important areas of human endeavour, we must be aware that our social relations are deteriorating and the goal of achieving stability is becoming more elusive," Cholmondeley asserted.
"All of us - government, opposition, political parties, NGOs, religious organisations, civil society and ordinary - must be aware that we are failing to find the most effective ways of involving all our citizens in the difficult and complex tasks of reconciliation, recovery and development," he posited.
"I think we all know that for us to begin to resolve our difficulties, we have to renew our efforts to search for, find, design and encourage participatory processes between constituencies defined as gender, occupation, sexuality, and perhaps above all others, as consumers," said Cholmondeley, who is a communications, conflict resolution and development specialist. He retired after 28 years of international service with the United Nations.
"I hold the view that your work as civil society organisations, by itself, is insufficient to make timely and substantial progress in arresting the forces of discord in our society (and) I believe that we all must help in creating a safe place for every citizen to express his or her view about every imaginable aspect of public life, personal interest and political performance, development and the future," he added.
He also suggested that one way of helping to construct that 'safe place' for citizens would be frequent and professional public opinion polling.
Also giving remarks at the opening ceremony were USAID representative, Ms. Dharmattie Sahai; Country Project Director of the Carter Center, Ms. Melanie Reimer; Mr. Phil Westman of SPEAR: and Mr. Richard Jones of CPDC.