20060311St.Ignatious Reg 9, page 1

Multi-Stakeholder Forum in St Ignatius, Central Rupununi

Date: Saturday, March 11, 2006

Region: Region 9

Venue: St.Ignatius Benab, Central Rupununi, Region 9

Number of participants: 36

Facilitators: Vanda Radzik and Arlene Dinally

What can we celebrate as positives in Guyana?

  • In Rupununi – the fact that we have reasonably peaceful relations with other races and the aspirations for Guyana and Rupununi to be a better place in which to live in harmony, peace and unity with each other
  • The desire for equality of opportunity for all
  • The richness and diversity of our flora and fauna have the potential to make us famous
  • The aspiration to rekindle our pride in Guyana and to look upon ourselves as Guyanese: - one people, one nation, one destiny

Elements of a vision for Guyana

Summarised responses from “Rupununi Dreaming” / My Dream for Guyana exercise:

Overarching Vision

  • A paradise, a place free of poverty, a happy, educated people living in harmony - a peaceful, happy, healthy nation enjoying the fruits of prosperity and the benefits of equality.
  • An equal & crime free Guyana

A Proud Nation Living in Racial & Ethnic Harmony

  • A Guyana where all her people – all six (or seven) races live in harmony and where we can drop the ethnic name tags and cancel out the conflict that separates us so that we can call ourselves Guyanese first and foremost as see and know ourselves as “one big family.”
  • A proud Guyanese nation where our people do not leave the country with their skills but stay and build.

Positive National Attitude towards Our Natural Resources

  • Ensure that our natural resources are positively utilised and protected and not negatively exploited by companies such as Barama and Omai.

Equality and Meritocracy

  • A Guyana based on Equality and Meritocracy: where jobs and benefits are acquired according to qualifications and merit and where all ethnic groups are treated equally in the job market.
  • Enough to share for all – each one to benefit for the well-being of all

A Fair deal for Workers and Workers Rights

  • All workers must be respected – not victimized;
  • All workers must be entitled to a fair day’s pay – because without this entitlement, so many social ills arise.
  • Job satisfaction - where we love our jobs and take pride in how well we do them – (and are not just working for the money alone!)

Education

  • 100% literacy in the country
  • An improved education system where all children must be given equal opportunity for schooling

Youth

  • Positive opportunities for youth must be created, especially job opportunities so that they will not have to turn to drugs and crime to earn a living.
  • To see youths in leadership positions within the community and to have Amerindian youth trained to take up such jobs and positions.

Politicians

  • It comes down to the heart and soul of politicians – if they are guided by greed, and lawlessness – we will not succeed as a people.
  • Politicians must learn to work together for Guyana’s good.

Present local conflicts / areas of tension

Roads

  • The condition of the roads was causing negative health hazards.
  • The situation of ungazetted roads causes an insecure situation where there is no coverage for vehicular traffic using these roads- an there has been a significant increase in road use in the Rupununi region. This means that there can be benefits claimed or rights asserted in the case of accidents and related insurance claims. Bribes were cited as a consequence of this situation.
  • Lethem roads have been submitted for gazetting- but the NDC faces financial constraints for the infrastructure requirements such as establishing and sign-posting names of roads 2006.
  • Discrimination was cited in that whereas Lethem is described and designated as a township, but there seemed to be little evidence that the relevant authorities at high levels were giving due priority to Lethem area, while it was felt that the Supenaam area was being fast tracked with gazetting of roads and gaining of related infrastructure benefits even though Supenaam was not officially established as a township as Lethem is.

Poverty

The depressed economic situation in the Rupununi is directly related to the situation of persistent poverty in the Rupununi region which is characterised by unemployment and the limited scope for existing employment opportunities. Discrimination in employment practices is cited as a major and pressing issue and concern, as is the factor of underpaid workers – where and when persons do get employment.

The general lack of jobs and / or decent employment standards contributes to a generally demoralised society burdened by increasing social ills – chief of which are identified as follows:

20060311St.Ignatious Reg 9, page 1

-crime

-drinking / alcoholism

-domestic violence

-prostitution

-migration

-child labour

-exploitation

20060311St.Ignatious Reg 9, page 1

Land

Improper demarcation of land was reported as a general, unresolved issue;

Security

It was felt that the increase in crime and illegal activities linked to poverty and coupled with poor public service has created a sense of increased insecurity within Lethem and its environs (and, generally, in Region 9).The following issue were highlighted:

  • Insufficient policing in the area and in Region 9 generally;
  • No proper/ prompt response by the police authorities when security issues and crimes are reported;
  • Crimes are left unsolved;
  • The Border is not properly or adequately monitored;

Social Issues

School drop-outs, teenage pregnancy – abortion, single parents who were still youths and the situation of school-girls who were “living home”- co-habitating with males were raised as a cluster of issues and youth-related problems affecting the area; Specific issues on the rise causing tension and concern and prioritized for urgent attention and assistance from the relevant authorities were listed as follows:

  • School dropouts – financial constrains (poverty).
  • Teachers- shortage of teachers – especially trained teachers
  • Drug abuse- in schools and communities
  • Domestic abuse/ violence;
  • Single parents (especially women who are poor) and the difficult situation facing them;
  • HIV;
  • Moral break-down among youth
  • Discipline- in schools, in the workplace, in the home by parents;
  • Education facility constraints (lack of schools in some communities)

Corporal Punishment

The issue of corporal punishment was raised as a bone of contention. It was stated that a survey had been conducted by UNICEF to which many persons and groups in the area contributed and / or participated in. But there had never been any feedback provided by UNICEF on this and the results of the survey have not been communicated to the residents of the Region to date. (It was said that this survey took place over a year ago or thereabouts.)

It was also stated that a Ministry of Education Manual on the do’s and don’ts of dispensation of corporal punishment existed – but it seems to be unclear as to what the current policy on this matter was. It was therefore felt that without a clear policy on discipline in schools – things were deteriorating, resulting in negative attitudes and consequences;

It was further reported that the “child friendly” classrooms and schools promoted by UNICEF / MOE were being implemented the wrong way and that teachers and students were becoming too friendly resulting in school girl pregnancies and teacher-student love affairs.

Environment

The following issues were highlighted:

  • Pollution caused by road dust and waste soil from the roads which are unmonitored;
  • No proper waste management / solid waste disposal systems, local policies or mechanisms implemented and / or functioning properly;
  • Alleged exploitation / corruption causing destruction of forest – leading to biodiversity loss and damage to flora and fauna;
  • Water Conservation and water management was reported as inadequate;
  • Water supply was cited as being inadequate
  • Environmental Health- the threat of bird flu in the region through migratory birds whose flight path may be in the Rupununi. Insufficient preventative information or policy information available.

Potential for violent conflict

There was no specific issue or situation highlighted in this regard. Also, it must be noted that this question was also not specifically put to the gathering for specific feedback, so it is difficult to ascertain for certain whether such potential exists and in what arena.

(See final section of this report for recommendation / elaboration on this theme).

Concrete commitments and ideas towards overcoming challenges

Community Solutions / Recommendations for addressing these issues

Lethem Roads

On the positive side it was stated that some minor effort at the local level is being made in some areas on the Lethem (road) – and that the process of gazetting of the Lethem roads would be completed during the year 2006. With the legislation in place, it was anticipated that the situation would improve. It was noted that the NDC was committed to this task and taking the lead in the gazetting / legislation – in spite of setbacks and frustrations encountered;

Poverty / Economic solutions

There have been positive moves towards self employment and certification. While it is indeed positive that persons have acquired qualifications and certificates through their own merit and a qualified labour pool exists, there is a great lack of jobs available in the Region.

The following areas are prioritized for attention with solutions suggested:

  1. Creation of more jobs in region;
  2. Salary payments must be based on position and qualification;
  3. Better salaries will lead to better conditions of service and enhanced public services, generally;
  4. More collaborative efforts between Regional admin and Village Councils in the preparation of budget for the Region.
  5. Recommended target areas for economic investment include:

- small scale industries

- subsistence farming

- educational awareness- evening classes

- dairy farming- live stocks

Security Recommendations

  • Establishment of a Border Police Patrol;
  • Proper salaries for police and better working conditions;
  • Renewing efforts to reintroduce Policing groups / community policing initiatives;
  • Utilising informants;

Social Issues Recommendations and Solutions

Schooling / Education

Children should be given more opportunities to complete schooling.

Rise in drop-outs due to economic hindrances, loans should be made available to parents; parents should be advised, monitored so that more could be had in hand. Parents must be knowledgeable about accessing loans and advised in how to manage and repay loans and in how to increase savings.

Workshops and peer education forums and social issues education for youths on these topics and issue to be prioritized and where possible delivered through special school programmes or regional workshops;

Religious groups to play a better, more meaningful better role in getting through to the youth and adults in the area.

Moral values to be reintroduced into schools (e.g. pastoral values that were taught when churches managed the schools in the area in the past)

Local Communications - TV, Radio- broadcast to schools.

It was recommended that Lethem and its surrounding area benefit from having its own radio and TV station licenses so that it could produce and disseminate the kind of information and social and moral messages and popular educational programmes with youth in mind as well as for the general population to benefit from;

Efforts had been made to assess the positives and negatives of replacing corporal punishment with alternative forms of discipline in schools but there was no conclusive outcome and no report was returned / disseminated by UNICEEF on a survey conducted on this topic.

Environment

It was noted that some level of composting was being initiated and this was a positive action;

It was recommended that provision of incinerators be taken up as a priority action target for managing solid waste in the Lethem area.

Water Supply ideas for overcoming challenges

It was reported that there had been efforts made to install water supply systems in areas that had been underserved / lacking in this essential need, but it was felt that action needed to be doubled up by the relevant water authorities for those critical areas still without potable water supply;

Finally, it was stated that “Prayer- Divine intervention changes all things!!!”

Any other observations / process issues

Team Spirit

The Region 9 pilot team had good chemistry and team spirit which was made for positive energy and synergy between ER representatives, UNDP observers, media personnel and facilitators.

Regional Chairman’s positive presence

The Regional Chairman was there to meet team at airstrip and to convey us to the meeting place himself and automatically did the opening and welcome honours and led the group in the Pledge, also requesting beforehand a blessing for the “Conversation” from one of the participating religious leaders. His presence was positive and encouraging and hospitable to the visiting team.

Agenda modification and innovation

The facilitator team had worked beforehand and modified the agenda based on the experiences of the other pilots that they had co-facilitated the previous weekend.

  • This facilitator team made good use of the ERC pamphlet which served well as the facilitators’ speaking note for the summary of the MSF context and provided the perfect safety net of knowing that it was the official information packaged by ERC which we were disseminating to communities.
  • The insertion of an ice-breaker designed to gauge who was present in terms of multi-stakeholder profiling proved to be animated and useful;
  • Localizing the Dream for Guyana section naming it “Rupununi Dreaming” helped to flavour the process and localize and well as centralize the visioning section of the agenda;
  • Positioning of the short film towards the end as part of the reflection process also worked relatively well. Referred to as “Food for Thought” on the Agenda, it linked in with the actual break for snack and preceded the wrap up section of the Agenda.

Media Presence

Media Team consisted of Francis Quamina Farrier and a young Rupununi-born reporter. In the intro speaking of “safe space” for the community conversation to take place in – facilitator mentioned the official presence of media personnel hired by ERC for producing documentary-type PR, and adding that any member of the community could request “off-camera”, if desired and media team endorsed this point of order. One person did request this and it was happily complied with. Since persons in this community are familiar with Mr. Farrier and trust his reporting, the media team did not appear to be intrusive to the occasion. It should be noted that during the in-depth small group discussions, media team did not film / report.

However, a reporter from Kaiteur News who is resident in the community did come by and politely requested use of some of the comments/ information from flip chart and to record speakers. Facilitator discussed the situation and suggested that it was not really a good idea at this stage to get “independent” media coverage, because it was a start-up pilot and people needed to feel free and open to speak without worrying about press coverage at this stage etc… Reporter was not aggressive and though understandably unwilling – having seen ERC hired media present and rolling, did quietly comply with request especially after UNDP deputy resident rep offered to also have a word with him.

Participants’ Feedback:

“Time too short”

Participants felt that the session was too short and more time was needed to continue – a sense of incompleteness of “unfinished business” – “we’re just getting started and we have to wrap up” was registered. It was also communicated after the meeting that the team should have been available to go deeper and complete the process – and not have to rush in and rush out “in such a hurry”.

Over-ambitious designated catchment area – and no assistance rendered for transportation for distant villages on the agenda

Transportation support for outlying community is a necessity for these areas like the Rupununi. The original catchment area was described as including Shulinab and Potarinau in the South Central region of Rupununi – very far distances from Lethem/ St.Ignatius.; as well as Nappi, Moco-Moco and others. Not really a reasonable request to ask persons to come from these areas on their own speed, on foot or on bicycle – which would be the only conveyance means at the disposal of individual villagers invited. Even getting the letters of invitation out would have been a logistical challenge.

General Process Design Recommendations

Harmonisation of Conversation Agenda and Reporting tool

The design of the Conversation would benefit from a greater degree of harmonization between the Reporting format for the “Conversation guideline / proposed agenda” and the Report of National Conversation to be produced by the facilitators. Specifically, utilising the headings of the Reporting Format to guide Small Group Discussions so as to provide specificity of focus would enhance linkages and quality of the deliverables. It is suggested that restructuring the Conversation Agenda in this way may elicit a more meaningful input from participants and also, importantly, minimize expectations and strengthen focus of conversations.