Leslie Ramsammy | |
|---|---|
 Ramsammy in 2013 | |
| Minister of Agriculture, Guyana | |
| In office November 2011 –2015 | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality |  Guyanese |
| Occupation | Politician |
Leslie Ramsammy is a Guyanese politician who is a member of the National Assembly.
He was appointed minister of agriculture on 28 November 2011, after the general elections, and served until 2015. [1]
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As a young man, he had ambitions to be a journalist but instead, he travelled to the United States of America to study microbiology. After this, he returned to Guyana during a time of political transition where he says he got "caught up in the development." And there he has remained until now, serving in a wide range of public office positions. [2]
Prior to his appointment as agriculture minister, Ramsammy served as Guyana’s Minister of Health for approximately 10 years, making him one of the longest serving ministers of health in the world. During that time, his passion and drive for better healthcare was recognized not only at national level, but at international levels, through his participation in various international fora and groupings. [3]
At the global and American regional levels, Ramsammy has served as the President of the World Health Assembly and the PAHO Directing Council, and he was the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean on the Board of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. [4]
At the Caribbean regional level, he has been Chairman of the Caribbean Community’s Council for Human and Social Development, Chair of the Caucus of CARICOM Ministers responsible for Health, and was recently named Chairman of the Executive Board of the newly established Caribbean Public Health Agency, CARPHA, which aims to integrate the current CARICOM specialized centres and more efficiently and effectively address the regional public health needs of CARICOM countries. [5]
From January to March of 2015, Ramsammy was a Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In this role, he taught a course in the Department of Global Health and Population titled, "Politics, Public Health, and the Right to Health."
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During his time as President of the 61st World Health Assembly, Ramsammy was allowed to vocalise some of his key philosophies on public health.
He believes that global health must be prioritized by Member States and that countries must be clear about their ambitions. "We are too conservative in our global health standards," he says in an interview. "A child born in Tanzania should have the same chance of survival and for living a healthy life as a child born in a developed country." [6]
He calls for a paradigm shift in which "we set universal standards that transcend national goals and for collective global action to help those countries who need support for meeting these global standards." As an ardent supporter of equity and social justice, Ramsammy cautions: "We should not be satisfied with reaching for the low-hanging fruit." He calls for global resources to be mobilized for more equitable health. [7]
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Georgetown is the capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is the retail, administrative, and financial services centre of the country, and the city accounts for a large portion of Guyana's GDP. The city recorded a population of 118,363 in the 2012 census.
The Caribbean Community is an intergovernmental organization of 15 member states throughout the Caribbean having primary objectives to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy. The organisation was established in 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas by its four founding members. Its major activities involve coordinating economic policies and development planning; devising and instituting special projects for the less-developed countries within its jurisdiction; operating as a regional single market for many of its members ; and handling regional trade disputes. The secretariat headquarters is in Georgetown, Guyana. CARICOM is an official United Nations Observer beneficiary.
Bharrat Jagdeo is a Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 1997 until 1999, during the presidency of Janet Jagan. Jagdeo subsequently served as the President of Guyana from 11 August 1999 to 3 December 2011. He also holds a number of global leadership positions in the areas of sustainable development, green growth and climate change.
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Janet Rosenberg Jagan was a U.S.-born Guyanese politician who served as the President of Guyana, serving from December 19, 1997, to August 11, 1999. She was the first female President of Guyana. She previously served as the first female Prime Minister of Guyana from March 17, 1997, to December 19, 1997. The wife of Cheddi Jagan, whom she succeeded as president, she was awarded Guyana's highest national award, the Order of Excellence, in 1993, and the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Gold Medal for Women's Rights in 1998.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an international public health agency working to improve the health and living standards of the people of the Americas. It is part of the United Nations system, serving as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization and as the health organization of the Inter-American System. It is known in Latin America as the OPS or OPAS.
Odeen Ishmael was a career Guyanese diplomat.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Guyana face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Guyana is the only country in South America, and the only country in the Americas outside the Caribbean, where homosexual acts are still illegal. Under the laws of Guyana, engaging in anal or oral sex can carry a possible punishment of life imprisonment. Recently, there have been efforts to decriminalise homosexual acts.
The Guyanese passport is issued to citizens of Guyana for international travel. As of July 2007, Guyana has issued the common Caribbean passport, featuring the logo of the Caribbean Community on the cover.
Guyana, officially the Co‑operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Brazil to the south and southwest, Venezuela to the west, and Suriname to the east. With 215,000 square kilometres (83,000 sq mi), Guyana is the third-smallest sovereign state by area in mainland South America after Uruguay and Suriname, and is the second-least populous sovereign state in South America after Suriname; it is also one of the least densely populated countries on Earth. It has a wide variety of natural habitats and very high biodiversity.
This article deals with the diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and international relations of Barbados.
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The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is a regional public health agency headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago which was established by CARICOM leaders in July 2011 and began operation in 2013.
Guyana–Mexico relations refers to the diplomatic relations between Guyana and Mexico. Both nations are members of the Association of Caribbean States, Caribbean Community, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Organization of American States and the United Nations.
Désirée Patricia Bernard is a Guyanese lawyer and jurist who was the country's first female judge of the High Court in 1980 and Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court in 1992. She was appointed Chief Justice of Guyana in 1996, Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana and the Caribbean in 2001 and a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice in 2005. In 2014, she was appointed to the Bermuda Court of Appeal.
Clive Youlande Thomas is a Guyanese economics professor and political activist. He publishes on issues relating to development and poverty eradication in Guyana and the greater Caribbean region.
Mignon Bowen-Phillips is a retired regional public servant who was employed at the CARICOM Secretariat for over 32 years. As a member of the CARICOM Electoral Observer Mission, Phillips observed several general elections across the Caribbean region. She was also an instrumental figure in raising awareness for breast cancer and cervical cancer in Guyana. Bowen-Phillips is the wife of Brigadier Mark Phillips, a Guyanese politician and retired military officer who is the 9th Prime Minister of Guyana.
Barbados-Cuban relations refers to the bilateral relations between Barbados and the Republic of Cuba. Barbados has an embassy in Havana and Cuba has an embassy in Bridgetown. Barbados and the Republic of Cuba are both members of the Association of Caribbean States, Belt and Road Initiative, ECLAC, EU-CARIFORUM, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific State and CARICOM.