THE parliamentary select committee tasked with undertaking consultations on the abolishment of the death penalty and corporal punishment, and with decriminalizing of lesbian, gay and transgender behaviours has begun work on its agenda under the chairmanship of Human Services and Social Security Minister, Jenifer Webster, who has confirmed that the committee met this past week to begin to formulate its work agenda.
According to Minister Webster, the committee must first apprise the National Assembly on its work agenda,

before actually beginning the process of consultation. However, the committee has already begun publishing notices inviting submissions from persons desirous of having an input in the outcome.
The minister said the committee would also be looking to benefit from consultations already held on the matter by the Ministry of Education (MoE), and will be looking to incorporate the MoE report in the current consultative process.
Moreover, she said the committee has identified corporal punishment in schools as the first item on its agenda.
This past Wednesday’s meeting is the second such for the committee since its establishment. The first meeting was to elect its members.    
The minister assured that, at the parliamentary level, the administration would be seeking the widest consultations possible, and expects “a very good response.”
The decision to consult, with a view to possibly revising the nation’s laws, has its genesis in repeated inquiry by the United Nation’s Human Rights Council.    
Another such request was made of the minister when she recently made a presentation to a United Nations body, and the commitment was given to hold consultations at the parliamentary level.
Guyana has received over 100 recommendations from the United Nations, 57 of which have been accepted by the administration.
The Guyana Government has agreed to consider another 55 recommendations “in due course.”
Recommendations that have not been readily accepted by Guyana relate to issues that have been subject to intense debate in the past and more recently, among all stakeholders.
Among recommendations that are still to be taken on board are abolition of the death penalty, and discriminatory laws against gays and lesbians.
Corporal punishment was also another hot topic, and according to Minister Webster, these are the first issues to be dealt with at the parliamentary level.
Guyana’s 2003 attempt to include “sexual orientation” under constitutional protections failed to receive the support of the National Assembly.