Over 700 citizens to become social cohesion advocates

As part of the mandate of the Ministry of Social Cohesion, a Diversity Education and Inclusion Workshop Training of Trainers workshop was launched on Saturday at the Racquet Centre on Woolford Avenue, where 15 persons will be trained as part of a core team, which will train over 700 citizens to become social cohesion advocates.

A Ministry of the Presidency release said that Saturday’s session was part of a two-day orientation to provide the core trainers with materials and other information for their task ahead. Those trained were picked by the Ministry of Social Cohesion based on past performance in training and facilitating sessions and included some participants of the United Nations Development Programme 2000-2003 Social Cohesion Programme.

Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Ally, said that this programme, which comes even as the ongoing Consultations are winding down, will ensure that the mandate of social cohesion is filtered from a national level to the community level, the release said.

“Social Cohesion comes from a collaborative effort… it does not just deal with the Minister or the Ministry, and so your response to this training session is an indication that you are on board and are willing to make your contribution to make social cohesion work in Guyana,” the Minister said.

Lead Trainer of the workshops, Kala Seegopaul, explained that the topics, which will be covered in the training sessions include values, behaviours, trust building, communication and the need for inclusivity, the release added.