Home News Mutually advantageous relationship between Guyana, Diaspora needed – Top US Think Tank...
A recent report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) highlighted the need for Guyanese authorities to take a more proactive approach in harnessing the opportunities which could be garnered from engaging the country’s large diaspora groups. ![](https://guyanatimesgy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-Guyanese-Diaspora-792x1024.jpg)
The report, “The Guyanese Diaspora” which was authored by Michael Matera, Linnea Sandin and Maripaz Alvarez, provides a comprehensive analysis of the Guyanese Diaspora and how local stakeholders’ engagement with this valuable asset could be better coordinated and taken advantage of by both sides.
It outlines that Guyana’s population, including the country’s civil society, private sector, and political leaders, as well as the large diaspora community, have “a shared mutual interest in increasing formal links between the country and the diaspora and in exploring means to increase cooperation and collaboration”.
The report highlighted that for many reasons since independence, the diaspora communities outside of Guyana have not been well organised nor engaged in a deliberate and consistent way by the Government.
“While there has been extensive contact between members and organisations of the diaspora and their families and communities at home in Guyana, there has been no consistent official effort to promote the more formal, mutually advantageous two-way relationships seen between some diasporas and their home countries in the region (e.g., in Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic) and outside of the region (e.g., in India, Israel, and China),” the report states.
It noted that the absence of trust and Guyana’s deep ethnic divide, which is replicated in large part in diaspora communities around the world, have complicated efforts to promote a more effective relationship between Guyana and its diaspora.
“Further complicating this situation is similar distrust and cynicism in the relationship between the people of Guyana and their political leaders, with the perception that their leaders are engaged, primarily across the ethnic divide, in a zero-sum struggle for power.”
According to the authors, considering that Guyana now sits “on the threshold of a new era of potentially greater national wealth, the incentives for more sustained joint efforts (public-private and diaspora-home country) are clearly stronger than ever”.
The authors pointed out that the relationship between Guyana and the Guyanese Diaspora is a unique one in terms of both the large size and the high level of education of the diaspora.
They highlighted that the capacities and expertise of the Guyanese Diaspora, if properly understood and engaged, could become an important factor contributing to the growth and development of Guyana.
“It is reasonable to think that an enhanced relationship with the diaspora, both in the public and private sectors, could be a major positive factor in promoting the country’s growth and development,” the authors contended.
According to the authors, the Guyanese Government would be well advised to consider organising a more serious effort to integrate diaspora issues and resources into the country’s bureaucratic structure.
They pointed out that the Diaspora Unit within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has in recent years involved a relatively small commitment of human and financial resources, and as a result, its engagement with diaspora communities has been extremely limited and not particularly effective.
In this regard, the authors suggested that Guyana should weigh the differences between a stand-alone ministry as seen in India and some formal structure such as a “diaspora advisory council” as seen in the Dominican Republic.
“Perhaps more promising in the case of Guyana could be new private sector and civil society efforts to develop more effective methods of connecting the diaspora and its human and financial resources with the home country.”
According to the authors, the model presented in the case of the Indian diaspora by the nonprofit The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE) would appear to be a potentially promising model to inspire closer engagement by the Guyanese diaspora communities with Guyana.
They suggested that it might even be possible to explore the opening of a TiE chapter in Guyana as a first step to developing a similar institution linking the Guyanese Diaspora with Guyana “through diaspora business support in the form of mentoring, incubation, networking, investment, and education”.
Meanwhile, the key recommendation presented in the report which was directed at both the public and private sectors in Guyana and at Guyanese Diaspora communities around the world, is to work collectively and deliberately to establish broader communications, engagement, and collaboration between Guyana and the diaspora through a “Guyana Global” initiative.
According to the authors, given the global dispersion of the diaspora and the current landscape brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, this initiative should be based on “a comprehensive digital strategy to harness the human capital within the Guyanese diaspora as a resource to be tapped in Guyana’s development”.
As such a cloud-based “portal,” including an online “community/platform” of diaspora experts, could serve as a framework and a formal means of communication between Guyana and the diaspora community.
When President Irfaan Ali took the oath of office in August, he committed to working collaboratively with the Guyanese Diaspora, saying that they too have a stake in the development of their homeland.
He had noted that while many Guyanese reside abroad, their love and commitment to their country have not changed and this was “passionately demonstrated” during the country’s fight to ensure that democracy prevailed.
“My Government intends to embrace Guyanese abroad as we enlist them here at home,” Dr Ali had asserted.