Category: Jainarine Deonauth

By Jainarine Deonauth Adversity defines what we are really made of. It can make us better or bitter. T D Jakes says, “A setback is a setup for a comeback.” We can overcome adversity and allow it to make us stronger, wiser and more empowered. In other words, adversity helps build character, resourcefulness, courage, perseverance and self-discipline. Last week Guyana Times carried a very uplifting and inspirational story in relation to a 17-year- old boy who managed to overcome serious adversities and made himself, his family, friends and his community…

By Jainarine Deonauth The World Malaria Report 2012 just released, summarises information received from 99 countries with on-going transmission and other sources, and updates the analyses presented in the 2011 report. Malaria is an entirely preventable and treatable vector-borne disease. In 2010, an estimated 219 million cases occurred globally, while the disease killed about 660,000 people, mostly children under five years of age. In Guyana, the government and other partners have been working tirelessly to reduce malaria rates. For example, the multi-therapy drug, Coartem – which is recognised as the…

By Jainarine Deonauth The world’s oceans and coastal areas are the source of a variety of life-sustaining goods and services – including food, transport, oil and gas, tourism, and minerals.  Marine and coastal resources directly provide at least US$3 trillion annually in global economic output, according to the United Nations. “Oceans are an integral part of life on earth, regulating our climate and producing oxygen for the planet, yet they are under serious threat due to pollution, over-exploitation, habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change,” says Andrew Hudson, Head of…

By Jainarine Deonauth There are perhaps a larger number of Guyanese settled outside of Guyana than those residing in the country. Guyanese can be found in some of the unlikeliest places all over the world. This mass exodus had started in the early 1960s under the Forbes Burnham dictatorship when the economy was facing total collapse; there were no proper jobs; social services were almost non-existent; and there was a sense of hopelessness all over the country. And of course that pattern continued under successive PNC, and to a lesser…

By Jainarine  Deonauth World AIDS Day, which was observed on December 1, brings together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. The day provides an opportunity for public and private partners to spread awareness about the status of the pandemic and encourage progress in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in high prevalence countries and around the world. Countries pledged in 2011 to take specific steps to achieve ambitious goals by 2015. While some have already achieved measurable…

By Jainarine Deonauth According to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), more than 1.2 million people die each year on the world’s roads, and approximately 50 million suffer non-fatal injuries. The latest surveys of road safety in Latin America and the Caribbean show that the region’s roadway fatality rate is approximately 17 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to the average for high-income countries of less than 10 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants. Further, compared with other causes of untimely deaths, road incidents take more lives each day (about 275) than HIV/AIDS does (156).…

By Jainarine Deonauth On October 12, President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, was reported as telling shareholders he wants the institution to become a “solutions bank” that can work with partners and help “bend the arc of history” to eliminate extreme poverty. “Let me be clear, when I say we will be a solutions bank, I do not mean to suggest that we have ready-made solutions for every development problem. We do not, nor is this our goal,” said Kim. He said that through decades of development work…

By Jainarine Deonauth There is currently a new wave of excitement in Guyana’s mining sector. Everyone wants a piece of the pie, as the high prices for gold in particular on the world market are triggering the gold rush. Nationally, the mining sector in Guyana is seen as critical to national development. Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh was quoted in the media recently as saying that the local economy recorded a 2.8 per cent growth in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up to mid-year, with the mining sector playing a…