The two-day Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) conference, which concluded on Friday, was deemed a success by Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister, Sydney Allicock.
ACTO is an intergovernmental body aimed at the promotion of sustainable development of the Amazon Basin. The regional technical exchange was held under the theme ‘Community Protocols and Access and Benefit-sharing related to Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples.’
Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock and Minister within the Ministry Valerie Garrido-Lowe (seated at centre) along with representatives of the member state countries
The conference saw attendance from the ACTO members states which include Guyana, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Suriname.
“A new journey you have embarked on. It is a journey that is long awaited and I think today, I can see that we have a team that is going to move this forward in the right direction,” Allicock told the participants.
The Indigenous Affairs Minister urged the attending countries to make use of the information attained from other countries.
He however used the opportunity to encourage the Indigenous people of Guyana, saying” for too long our Indigenous peoples have been in the dark and now is the time to give them the opportunity to help in nation-building.”
Meanwhile, Minister within the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry Valerie Garrido-Lowe added that Indigenous studies programmes should be included at the University level so that Guyanese can benefit from honorary degrees in Indigenous studies.
“I think we should also look at legacy, what we want to leave for our younger generation and add to what already exists. We can boast about what our ancestors left for us; the food, the craft, agriculture… We now need to look at how we can add to that. Are we going to translate our languages and document them so that they can be stored electronically? Are we going to go into green energy? Are these the benefit we want to leave with our people,” Minister Garrido-Lowe explained.
Minister Garrido-Lowe also applauded the participants for engaging in intense consultations during the two-day meeting and urged them to make use of the outcomes.
