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June 16 Declared Jamaican Diaspora Day
Monday, June 21, 2004
Delegates attending the inaugural Jamaican Diaspora Conference
have declared June 16 Jamaican Diaspora Day and called for the special
day to be observed annually by Jamaicans worldwide.
The Resolution proclaiming the day was passed at the final session
of the conference on July 17. It reads: whereas Jamaicans in the
Diaspora represent a diverse group reflecting our motto "Out
of Many One People'; whereas Jamaicans have traveled widely and
have attained many milestones and are desirous of maintaining and
strengthening their relationship with their homeland; conscious
of the importance of designating a day on which Jamaicans in the
Diaspora can come together to celebrate their oneness; acknowledging
June 16, 2004, the launch of the first Jamaican Diaspora Conference
as the Jamaican Diaspora Day.
The group also agreed on a resolution that the Conference would
be a biennial event to be held in Jamaica on the specified date.
As set out in the resolution, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Affairs will take necessary steps to put in place a planning
committee, which will consist of representatives of the main stakeholders
and will take the lead role in organizing the conference.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Delano
Franklyn, told Diaspora members that the conference would not be
able to achieve everything, but whatever decisions were arrived
at should be "doable" and "there should be an entity,
a structure, and people who would take the decisions to the next
stage.""It is better for us to start small and work toward
the big plans. It makes no sense we get here and have some of the
most brilliant ideas and when we return here two years time, we
have not been able to implement them," he advised.
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