Guyana gets $10M disaster relief funding from China

The People’s Republic of China has donated US$50,000 to the Guyana Government, aimed at tackling Disaster Relief and Risk Management countrywide.
The funds were presented by Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan and received by Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Retired Colonel Nazrul Hussain.

The Asian nation expressed intent to formalise a working relationship with the Guyana Government, via the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry and the CDC, to assist in Disaster Risk Management plans. A forum is slated for August 25 of this year which will delve into Disaster Risk Management, and the Government of China has pledged to share knowledge and experiences that may prove beneficial for Guyanese.
CDC’s Director General thanked China for their timely support in wake of the current challenges faced by Guyana in the flood-prone areas, adding that the CDC looks forward to benefiting from more capacity-building opportunities with China.
A few months ago, Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd participated in a virtual meeting of the Foreign Ministers of China and Caribbean countries sharing diplomatic relations with China.
Minister Todd provided a wide-ranging intervention on how Caribbean-China relations can be enhanced through collaboration at the multilateral level. He noted China’s commitment to true multilateralism as the path to finding shared solutions to global challenges with the participation of all States. Minister Todd also took the opportunity to reaffirm Guyana’s commitment to the One China Policy.
Further, Todd addressed the issue of climate change being a prime global issue, owing to the existential threat it presents to countries particularly those in the Caribbean that are most vulnerable to its impacts. He highlighted Guyana’s principal concerns which remain the achievement of the 1.5 degrees Celsius target and access to sufficient financing for adaptation and mitigation.
It was outlined that since Guyana is a low-lying coastal State, it is vulnerable to flooding as a result of sea level rise and extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall. He said that this phenomenon threatens important sectors of Guyana’s economy, including critical infrastructure, thereby hindering Guyana’s ability to adapt to the devastating impacts of climate change. He underscored that it was within this context that Guyana had launched the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) in 2009 and launched the expanded Strategy – LCDS 2030 in 2021.
Todd told the meeting that there is a need to bridge the energy and infrastructure gap in the region to increase disaster preparedness, boost economic recovery and address challenges to food security, among others. Impediments to investment in infrastructure, both on the demand and supply sides and lack of available funding pose a challenge to bridging this gap. He also said that building resilient economies entail investing in resilient infrastructure, restoring trade, particularly through increased connectivity and sustainable supply chains and long-term investments in low-carbon technologies.
At that time, Guyana said it welcomed China’s support and advocacy to increase ambition for adaptation and mitigation as a coordinated push for finance is urgently needed.