In observance of the International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD), Guyana is currently hosting the 2018 IDPAD Summit which brings together African Descendants from around the world to focus on eradicating the plight of Africans through the implementation of possible solutions.
The IDPAD summit 2018 is being held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel under theme “Where we are, Where we ought to be, How we get there”.
Speaking at the opening of the summit this morning, acting President, and Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, said the theme facilitates the consideration of positive endeavours to move to a more desirable position.
“Regrettably, many of the struggles of bygone eras remain with us today. We’re still battling with many of these same issues which speaks the importance of the [platform] provided by IDPAD and of this conference. A weighty responsibility therefore [lies] upon you as participants. The Government of Guyana has committed to playing its part in this regard. President Granger has committed to the work of IDPAD…in achieving the objective of the decade,” he said.
To this end, Minister Greenidge noted that government had already made good on majority of its commitments including allocating resources in the 2018 budget to support the work of the organisation.
He went onto say that there has not been an equal and commensurate effort to make recompense for the scars on humanity and the unmitigated horrors that slavery has left on African descendants, while reiterating government’s support of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM’s) quest for reparation.
The four-day conference will serve as a platform for participants to openly discuss the serious issues facing African descants, as well as the solutions they envision to address the problems, and ways of implementing these solutions.
