UG initiates Diaspora Engagement Centre

The week-long Guyana Diaspora Conference facilitated by the University of Guyana has ended with a concrete mechanism to push forward ideas generated at the forum.

UG today launched the Diaspora Engagement Centre as a means of institutionalising the ideas generated from the conference and to ensure that the passion from the diaspora to engage their homeland is translated into tangible deliverables.

UG Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith said the launch of the centre was symbolic, even without a physical space identified.

He said the University is cramped for space, so it is likely that a building would be rented off campus.

Professor Griffith noted that a number of entities have been engaged to support the Centre, with the Caribbean Development Bank likely to be the main partner.

The end of the Diaspora Engagement Conference also saw the signing of a new agreement between the University of Guyana and the University of the West Indies. Professor Brian Copeland, Principal of the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine Campus, said that the University of the West Indies, strengthening relations with Universities across the Caribbean was crucial.