President David Granger: Thank you Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Patrick Chesney, Assistant Resident Representative; Honourable Carl Greenidge; Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs; other Ministers of the Government; Members of the National Assembly; Mrs. Khadija Musa, United Nations Resident Coordinator; members of the Diplomatic Corps; special invitees; ladies and gentlemen:
I’m happy this evening to bring greetings on behalf of the Government of Guyana although I do so with some sadness, in expressing gratitude to Mrs. Khadija Musa for her service and her stewardship as Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme over the past four years.
Mrs. Musa presented her credentials to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 2012. She came not as a novice but as a hard-headed, though not hard-hearted, veteran of complex situations in over 20 countries but she’s actually visited six dozen countries… I think she’s served in 20 of them.
Her work in Africa especially in Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda, in Asia during the Southeast Asia tsunami catastrophe; in Afghanistan, in the Middle East and in Europe, more than adequately prepared her for this final and what I’d like to believe is most fulfilling assignment in Georgetown.
Guyana has benefited from her more than twenty-five years of experience as an international public servant in the United Nations system.
We thank her for her superintending of the delivery of tangible benefits to the Guyanese people.
We acknowledge the wide-ranging support and systems provided during what has come to be known as the Musa quadrennium.
There was no area of governmental activity to which she did not lend her energy, her expertise and her experience.
Her portfolio ranged from Amerindian land-titling, climate change, democratic governance, the environment, inter-faith harmony, information and communication technology, the media, occupational health and safety, poverty reduction, public health, social cohesion, social protection, solid waste management – I think I’ve got the whole Cabinet there. Yeah, I think maybe if she was in the Cabinet, I don’t know if the other ministers would find work to do but she has done so much for us.
The UNDP under Mrs. Musa played an active role in strengthening public trust in our institutions and in our capacity to deliver the good life. The Resident Coordinator, Mrs Musa has been at the front, at the centre and behind all of these projects over the last four years.
Guyana will remember Mrs. Musa with respect and gratitude. We wish her a happy continuation of service – you notice I didn’t say retirement – a happy continuation of service and we look forward to seeing her back in Guyana in some other equally helpful capacity.
Ladies and gentlemen, I ask that you join me in proposing a toast to the health and happiness of Mrs. Khadija Musa, her daughter who is here, her husband. She has been a friend of the Guyanese people, an outstanding servant to the global community.
We will miss you, Khadija.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen.
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