Statement issued at the end of the University of Guyana’s 2nd Diaspora Conference

The University of Guyana, in its 60th year of existence, hosted its 2nd Diaspora Conference on May 8-10 2023, at the George Walcott Lecture Theatre, University of Guyana, held under the theme: Calling 592: Honouring, Researching, Reigniting Diaspora.

Having deliberated over the past three days and –

Recognizing “the embedded power of diasporas, particularly the Guyanese diaspora’s ability for resilience, social and special reorganization, innovativeness, cultural diffusion, transnational agency and transformation”;

Acknowledging the loss of Guyana’s human capital, particularly its graduates and youth through migration and the impact of this on national development and transformation;

Acknowledging also, that the nuances of the dynamics of diasporic engagement and work require urgent scholarly attention;

This conference directs that the following specific critical actions be urgently undertaken –

1. Establish, within the shortest possible time, an International Institute for The Study of Diasporas and Migration at the University of Guyana.

2. Create an international working group within one month which will spearhead the work to establish the International Institute for The Study of Diasporas and Migration.

3. Ensure that we are true to the exhortation of our national poet Martin Carter that “ all are involved or all are consumed” for an inclusive work agenda of key aspects of the dominant and sub-altern experiences of diasporas in the Caribbean and Latin America as well as in other parts of the world, including reciprocity, opportunities, business, culture, the specific roles and conditions of academics in the diaspora, women and gender, indigenous people, youth, and those who may not be in the highest socio-economic strata in these countries, (including the aged).

4. To support and undergird with research, training and directed discussion, the excellent initial work of the Diaspora Engagement Unit and other state departments of Guyana.

5. To Mandate the University of Guyana Press to publish selected papers and abstracts of this conference as the first publication of the UG _IISDM, within one year of the conclusion of this conference.

6. To Ensure all recorded presentations are distributed within one month for extended online registration and access to others who would have missed this conference and are requesting this service, as a test of a possible new model of conferencing being pioneered by The University of Guyana.

7. To work with relevant and interested partners to create a local and regional database of scholarly items to support the present study, policy development and actions around the ecology of diaspora work.

8. To Facilitate and support the continuous and positive inter-change between UG students and other youth, with youth in and from our primary and secondary diasporas and to establish a working group within two months who will spearhead this work.

9. To Link and facilitate the continuous exposure of scholars and students wishing to develop expertise in diaspora and migration studies in order to ensure the highest quality and systematic scholarship and action in this area, in particular the role of technology in matters diaspora.

10. To Host the 3rd Diaspora Conference (two years from now) in May 2025; establishing immediately an international multi-disciplinary working group to begin its planning and resourcing, with the proposed Conference Theme: “Matters Diaspora- Technology and Diaspora in the 21st Century “

Thus concludes the statement on the key outcomes from the University of Guyana’s 2nd Diaspora Conference concluded on this day, May 10, at Turkeyen, Georgetown, Guyana in the year 2023.

Source: CARICOM TODAY