“One Guyana” concept connected to success of development plans – Pres Ali

The trademarked “One Guyana” concept, coined by the Ali-led Government to inculcate oneness among Guyanese, has been seen as a worthy instrument to ensure success in Guyana’s upcoming development agenda.
President Dr Irfaan Ali appeared on the virtual talk show on Thursday, the One Guyana Journal, where he outlined that the concept will be incorporated in the overarching development plans for the country, and how Government pursues such efforts.
“It is us understanding our individual and collective role in pursuing an agenda, a development path that builds a country that is defined by oneness in everything that we do…The oneness stems from recognising that we are a very diverse, multi-ethnic country with various religious practices and beliefs. That is what makes us up individually,” Ali underscored.
He expressed that for the One Guyana policy to be successful, it requires individual and collective efforts. According to him, there is no other option.
“We are going to put every ounce of energy into this because it is the only pathway for our country, for us as a people to build prosperity. We have no other option. There is no other path than this. We can have the best development and greatest investment, but if we can’t understand our singular purpose, the glue that binds us together, what makes us Guyanese and inculcate that in our daily way of life, then we will not be able to enjoy the fruits of our labour.”
During the engagement, the President spoke on the importance of good governance, democracy, inclusivity and other tenets that are at the core of his “One Guyana” policy and about the ways the policy would transform the country and its citizens.
He has identified, “It is a policy that is being pursued by this Government to bring our people together but it is not only a policy that looks at the unification of people. It is a policy that has many intricate parts. We have to look at this policy as something that is alive, something that affects people’s lives every single day.”
The concept will push for Guyanese to embrace values of democracy, the rule of law, respect, religious tolerance among others. It is being crafted into a document consisting of three components.
Apart from the foundational component, he said there are aspirational aims that shape the characteristic of the people, nature of the economy, effectiveness of the Judiciary, youth and women involvement, and balanced development.
“The aspirational goal has to do with creating that balance so that all of us are arriving at a destination together as One Guyana…The creation of the concept is not only narrowed to Government or to politics. It is wide-ranging, all encompassing, taking the whole together in one vehicle and importantly, addressing the question of identity.”
Important questions that will be addressed, President Ali shared, revolves around, “What is the identity that makes us One Guyana? Who and what constitute a Guyanese? How do we fuse the richness of the multicultural society into this singular concept of being One Guyana? These are all individual issues that we are addressing in the construct of this One Guyana.” (G12)