Three Guyanese participate in Caribbean – Canada Leaders’ Dialogue 2025

Jun 04, 2025 News

Kaieteur News- Three Guyanese participated in the Caribbean – Canadian Leaders’ Dialogue (CCLD) 2025 which brought together 100 emerging leaders from Canada and the Caribbean from May 22 to June 1, 2025.

Mahendra Phagwah of the Ministry of Education who was a part of the Bahamas tour, Faa’izah Mustafa of the Supreme Court who participated in the Jamaica tour, and Bradley Downer, who coordinated the Guyana tour.

The Canadian High Commission in Guyana on Tuesday said that the High Commission hosted a visiting delegation from the CCLD. Following a plenary session in Toronto, where participants engaged in discussions, relationship-building, and team formation, participants were divided into groups.

Each group travelled to one of seven Caribbean countries over the past several days -The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, and Jamaica – to explore leadership challenges through thematic lenses such as diversity, sustainability, ethics, collaboration, and advocacy. The initiative concluded with a closing plenary in Barbados, where groups presented their findings and recommendations.

Led by Mr. Downer, the delegation visiting Guyana consisted of a mixed group twelve young professionals from Jamaica, Barbados, Turks and Caicos, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Canada. These professionals came from various backgrounds including the St. Vincent Ministry of Finance, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Global Affairs Canada and the Turks and Caicos Island Government, among others.

“While in Guyana, the team visited and learned from several ministries, agencies and businesses, including the Ministry of Legal Affairs, CARICOM, the Ministry of Education, the University of Guyana, SBM Offshore and Banks DIH among others. They also took time to meet with Guyanese citizens in various communities,” the High Commission said in a statement.

At their farewell meeting on Thursday with Canadian High Commissioner Sébastien Sigouin, the members of the delegation asked various questions about Canada’s work in partnership with the Government of Guyana, Guyana’s economic development and oil boom, digitization of the country, the upcoming elections, and the High Commissioner’s perspectives on effective leadership. The team also shared their experiences interacting with Guyanese they met over the course of their visit and some of their observations.

In attendance at the meeting were also Political Counselor at the High Commission of Canada, Mr. Daniel Bood and the Second Secretary and Multilateral Engagement Lead at the British High Commission, Mr. Alain Archibald, who spoke of the UK’s work in Guyana.

During the engagement High Commissioner Sigouin indicated his pleasure in meeting the young, brilliant minds.

“It was so refreshing to engage with this diverse group of future leaders. Global Affairs Canada is proud to support the Caribbean Canada Leaders’ Dialogue (CCLD) 2025 – a transformative initiative that brings together emerging leaders from Canada and the Caribbean. It’s an investment in human capital – providing real-world, experiential learning that enhances leadership skills and fosters international collaboration,” the High Commissioner said.

Background on Canada’s Support

The CCLD 2025 aligns with Canada’s broader engagement in the Caribbean region, advancing shared priorities in diplomacy, education, innovation, and sustainable development.

Canada has a long history of supporting education cooperation with CARICOM through scholarship and mobility programmes, dating back decades with our engagement in the Commonwealth scholarships and fellowships programme. Since 2007, over 2,000 Caribbean students and researchers have benefited from a range of short-term mobility initiatives.

Canada’s support is grounded in our belief that the CCLD initiative is not just a dialogue – it’s a concrete investment in the region’s future, and in the Canada-Caribbean relationship.

For more information on the CCLD – https://commonwealthleaders.org/caribbean-canada-leaders-dialogue-2025/

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