Guyana Chronicle
March 29, 2001

The Rights of Children (ROC), is reiterating its call for political leaders, media houses and others in society to avoid manipulating the hopes and playing on the fears of young people by fostering racial separation.

This message, contained in a press release, comes at the conclusion of the March 19 general elections and at a time when racial tensions have been heightened due to political and racial polarisation.

Urging all Guyanese to remember with pride the nation of their birth, ROC issued a further call to all those organisations that signed the Race-Free Zone Pledges, and persons who made a personal commitment to racial harmony by putting their handprints on billboards, to remember to live up to the pledges.

The youth organisation highlighted one of its recent activities, a bookmark, which it said was even more relevant as it outlined seven steps towards one love that everyone should adopt throughout their lives.

The seven steps include, not assuming anything about a person because of race, speaking the same opinions to all people, not accepting racial remarks in one's presence and respecting differences of opinion. Other steps were not distorting stories or spreading rumours, not shunning persons because of race and the willingness to assist any victim of racial harassment.

According to the release, it was as a result of the need to take young people's views into account that over 8,000 of them took part in a countrywide signature campaign. This allowed for the insertion of a preamble to the constitution which states that the future of the country "belongs to its young people who aspire to live in a society which respects their dignity, protects their rights, recognises their potential, listens to their voices, provides opportunities, ensures a healthy environment and encourages people of all races to live together in harmony and peace."