GUYANA’S HUMAN RIGHTS record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, for the third time, on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 in a meeting that will be webcast live and the government in its national report highlighted its efforts in improving the lives of citizens in the various sectors.
According to a release by the UN, Guyana is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from January 20 to 31, the UNDP said in a release. Guyana’s first and second UPR reviews took place in May 2010 and January 2015, respectively.
The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report – information provided by the State under review; 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups. The UPR is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed twice within the first and second UPR cycles. During the third UPR cycle, States are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow-up on, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country. The delegation of Guyana will be headed by Ambassador John R. Deep Ford, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN Office at Geneva.
The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Guyana are: Australia, Chile and Pakistan. The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Guyana at 17:00 hrs on 31 January.
In its national report submitted ahead of the review, Guyana Government said it considers the UPR as a beneficial process in engaging with other States to review and constructively assess progress in recognising and protecting fundamental rights and freedoms on the domestic plane.
Guyana noted that since the presentation of its report to the 2nd UPR, Guyanese have undergone historical political changes including the election of a coalition government immediately following a 23-year rule of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic political party. Political history ‘marched’ on when, on 21st December, 2018, the coalition government lost a vote of no-confidence at the 111th sitting of the National Assembly. Having fully employed the judicial system to define the Constitutional requirements as the political system entered uncharted waters, General Elections have now been fixed for 2nd March, 2020. “In the midst of the exciting political developments, Guyana has remained firm in its commitment to ensure the continued and progressive enjoyment and protection of citizens’ human rights. The Republic is also pressing forward with its Green State Development Strategy Vision 2040 which includes human rights’ focused goals such as healthy, educated and socially cohesive population; transparency, accountability and citizen participation; and preservation of land rights of Indigenous Peoples,” the report stated.
During the last UPR process, Guyana confirmed its support for 88 recommendations and noted 55 recommendations for consultation and/or consideration. It continued its engagement on issues such as the abolition of the death penalty, abolition of corporal punishment, and the legal position on sexual relations between adults of the same sex.
Advances, challenges and threats
In the report Guyana alluded to the Green State Development Strategy 2040, which is aimed at achieving eight development objectives which include: Economics Restructuring and Diversification; transition to Renewable and Clean Energy; Healthy, Educated and Socially Cohesive Population; Sustainable Management of Natural Resources; Resilient Infrastructure and Green Towns; Internationally Competitive Trade and Investment; Good Governance and Strong Institutions; and Sound Fiscal Policy.
The report noted that the Guyana Police Force has committed to reducing crime and violence and has outlined priorities in its Strategic Plan 2013-2017, which includes modernisation of the force. The plan’s operational priorities addressed the issues of drugs, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, and human trafficking. Besides, the report noted that the Government of Guyana has legislation in place that could help combat drug trafficking and money laundering more effectively and mentioned that in January 2015, a new strategic plan to combat drugs in the 2015-2020 period was implemented.
“The government is making major efforts to fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, for which it launched an action plan in 2014. A new national plan has been created for 2019–2020,” the report stated. It added that in 2015, the overall unemployment rate was 6.9%; this rate was higher among youth (25.1%). Some 18.3% of children between the ages of 5 and 17 performed some type of child labour.
Alluding to the country’s economic prospects, the report referenced the New York-based stock market, Nasdaq, projection of Guyana’s growth rate of 16.3% during the four-year period 2018–2021. It said that with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) size of $3.63 billion (2018 Rank: 160), a growth rate of 4.1% in 2018 and 4.6% in 2019, Guyana’s economy is expected to grow by 33.5% and 22.9% in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
According to the report, with a per-capita income of $5,194, Guyana is a middle-income country and is covered by dense forest. It made mention of here being home to fertile agricultural lands and abundant natural resources. Gold, bauxite, sugar, rice, timber and shrimp are among its leading exports. Most notably and most recently, the International Monetary Fund noted that the Guyana economy was projected to grow by 86% in 2020.
Ahead of the 2020 projection for ‘first oil’, on December 20th, the production of oil began. December 20th was declared National Petroleum Day by President, David Granger.
