March 19, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mary Adams, Vice President/Director of Communications

Tel: 592-666-2530

Email: moveonguyana@gmail.com

GEORGETOWN: A new national youth movement has been formed. The name is MOVE ON GUYANA, INC, acronym for Movement for Youth in Development of Guyana, Inc. In keeping with its mission, the movement will inspire and mobilize the nation’s youth population to participate in Guyana’s governance and development. The mission statement is “Integrating Our Youth Into Our Nation’s Governance And Development Agenda.” Our Motto is “Our Youth, Our Nation, Our future.” The organization’s model includes chapters in all municipalities, regions and the diaspora. A MOVE ON GUYANA chapter will be launched in New York City on March 24, 2019. The date of the Guyana launch will be announced subsequently.

The organization’s board of directors are: President, Vshal Joseph, medical student/Caricom youth ambassador; First Vice President,  Dineshwar Jaiprashad UG lecturer/Pandit; Vice Chairman/Director of Health Policy Initiatives, Dr. John Anderson, Physician; Vice President/Director of Communications, Mary Adams, public relations consultant, Vice President/director of business development, Rosco Jeffry, Secretary, Christopher Johnson, UG lecturer/businessman; Treasurer, Godfrey Bess, Financial Analyst; Assistant Treasurer/Director of Fundraising & Finance,  Varune Mahadeo, business executive, Assistant Secretary, Eon Bollers, City councilor/entrepreneur; Director of Special Events & Social Affairs, Saiku Andrews, recording artiste/gospel singer;  Director of Digital Campaign, Aggre Marsh, ICT specialist, Director of Education & Public Policy, Joseph Singh, economist, Director of Women’s Affairs & Social Transformation, Dr. Adriele Downer-Austin, Physician; Director of Strategic Planning & Political Affairs, Akeem Peter, City Councilor/Entrepreneur; Director of Agriculture & Environmental Policy, Dillon Husbands, Manager UG Research Center/Purdue University PhD Candidate; Director of International Affairs, Dr. Randy Domer, Veterinarian, and Director, Dr. Onica Higgins, physician.

MOVE ON GUYANA will educate the nation’s youth about the power and invincibility of the vote; ensure each eligible youth voter is registered, design and operationalize an unprecedented Get Out The Vote Operation (GOTV) operation for the next elections and work to ensure qualified, talented young people are permanently integrated into every sphere of leadership in society; including government, private sector and community. Our footprint will be an indelible paradigm shift that engenders modern, progressive governance and rejuvenation of Guyana’s political culture. MOVE ON GUYANA’S votes will decidedly elect a government that to propel Guyana to modernity.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of Guyana’s population is below age 40 and the median age is 26. However, while this demographic constitutes the most significant part of the electorate, generations of young people are absent from nation’s governance. MOVE ON GUYANA intends to change this reality by enduring youth parity in governance of our society. We have consulted with hundreds of young people all across Guyana about policies to empower the youth population and move Guyana forded. Consequently, we have formulated a groundbreaking Charter of Youth Policy Initiatives. MOVE ON GUYANA will mobilize the youth population to support its Charter initiatives. National support will be the instrument that inspires collaboration with national leaders to realize our Charter goals through policy and legislation.

MOVE ON GUYANA will youth development and participation in government and community development; advocate for better opportunities for young people in business and private enterprise and facilitate education, empowerment and leadership training. We will promote and facilitate youth representation at levels of national decision making in government and the private sector. We will advocate for our youth to comprise at least 40% political candidates for all elections, on municipal, neighborhood and regional councils, as well as parliament and cabinet.

MOVE On GUYANA teach our youth to embrace each other’s history, culture and religion. We will advocate for national reconciliation to heal race relations, and will persuasively promote greater social cohesion so as to positively change the youth perspective. We will advocate for constitutional reform to strengthen our democratic institutions and culture. We believe social justice is a pillar of a democratic society. We will therefore be a resolute advocate for social justice, criminal justice reform and a fair and equitable justice system.  We will also promote civic awareness and social responsibility amongst our youth and throughout society.

MOVE ON GUYANA will promote a green economy and effective use of green spaces. We will conduct a national campaign to create awareness about the devastating effects of carbon footprints in our environment and human-generated climate change. Moreover we will engage political, business and community leaders to ensure enactment of environmentally friendly policies.

MOVE ON GUYANA will covenant with nation’s you to advocate for the following policies:

Decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and drug possession, and enact legislation to expunging all criminal records of persons convicted of misdemeanor marijuana and drug related offences. Rationalize sentencing guidelines for drug and other criminal convictions. Implement criminal justice diversion programs for youthful offenders who are eligible for rehabilitation.

Abolish tuition and restore free education from nursery to university as provided for in the Constitution. Cancel all outstanding student loans for persons who studied at the University of Guyana. Introduce a permanent scholarship program for our youth to pursue masters and PhD degrees in disciplines that are essential for our emerging modern economy. Enable the University of Guyana to offer said degrees and advocate for UG campuses to be established at Bartica, Lethem and Linden.

Enact a new law to allow persons 18 years and older to purchase and acquire land. Permit land owners to pay for lands over a period of five years and/or absorb land cost into their mortgages. Re-establish a mortgage bank to provide low interest housing loans to every Guyanese 18 years and older with a low incomes.

Establish a national income threshold for Guyanese 18 years and over. Enact a conditional, proportionate income subsidy from oil royalties and revenues to compensate every eligible citizen earning below the income threshold. Only citizens with an income would be eligible. To maintain eligibility participants must engage in continuing education, seek better job opportunities and higher income. Participant whose income increases to or beyond the threshold will become ineligible and will graduate from the program.

Advocate for the creation of at least 10,000 jobs by: (a) Establishing a massive infrastructure development project that includes constructing and redevelopment of drainage systems, roads and highways, water and sewage systems and a network of traffic and street lights countrywide. (b) Mandating private contractors, vendors and other private sector entities doing business with government to engage in at least 35 present youth employment or sub-contracting, and (c) Create community and intergovernmental affairs units across the public service, staffed by university graduates, to interface with the community and government departments to ensure government services are delivered in a timely and efficient manner, as well as ensure inter-governmental coordination and effective policy implementation.

Establish an independent Ministry for youth and sport. Develop and restore recreational facilities in major population centers throughout Guyana. Develop a state of the art athletics training center, sports development training center and state of the art music and visual arts center for the development of athletes, sport men and women and musicians.

Establish a community college system in Guyana to allow high school graduates who do not qualify for entry to the University of Guyana to earn a two-year associates degree. We propose to merge the National Theater Guild, National School of Dance Borrows School of Arts and Critchlow labor College into a community college for the arts. Merge GTI, GITC, and GUYSUCO Training Center to form a community college for engineering, technical and vocational education. Upgrade President’s Collage into a community college for language, arts and sciences. Upgrade Guyana School of Agriculture to a community college for agriculture, forestry, veterinary public health, livestock development and applied research.

Move on Guyana will convene various public forums throughout Guyana to engage our youth population and will work steadfastly with national leaders to ensure the dreams and aspirations of our youth are realized.

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