GUYANA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently signed a framework agreement aimed at accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The framework agreement identifies common challenges faced by countries in the region and seeks to inform positions taken by the United Nations to complement national development efforts.

The new Multi-Country Sustainable Development Co-operation Framework (MFDCF) covers the period 2022-2026 and was officially signed by Senior Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh and UN Resident Co-ordinator, Yesim Oruc.

The UNDP Programme in Guyana is guided by the Country Programme Document (CPD) and the UN Multi-country Sustainable Development Framework for the Caribbean (UN MSDF). It is designed to be responsive to the diverse developmental needs of countries covered under the framework agreement. The diversity is reflected in three broad thematic areas, namely, poverty eradication, structural transformation and resilience building.

Guyana and the UNDP has a long history of co-operation. It has been operating in Guyana since 1966 and has been playing a key role in Guyana and the region as a whole where sustainable growth and human development still remain a challenge. According to the 2021 Regional Human Development Report, the region is one characterised by great contrasts, where wealth and prosperity coexist with vulnerability and extreme poverty. There are also high levels of volatility, low growth and low productivity. According to the report, the Latin America and the Caribbean region is caught in a trap of high inequality and low growth. This has resulted in a vicious cycle that limits the ability to advance on all fronts of human development.

Guyana for the greater part of its post-independence period had experienced stunted growth and consequently low levels of human development. During that period, the country scored poorly on the UNDP Human Index, thanks to nearly three decades of PNC authoritarian rule. However, with better access to education, improved healthcare, improved delivery of social services and an overall improvement in living standards, Guyana’s ranking on the UNDP Human Development Index is expected to improve although it will take some time before the economic and social wreckage of the past can be fully regularised.

With the restoration of democratic rule on October 5, 1992, the country began to experience a sustained period of growth but the baggage of past mismanagement and structural deformities continue to be a drag on the realisation of the country’s full potential. However, the quality of life of the Guyanese people improved progressively and incrementally, due in large measure to the people-oriented policies and programmes of the PPP/C administration.

With the discovery of oil and gas in large commercial quantities, Guyana is now poised for unprecedented economic growth and currently ranks among the fastest growing economies in the region and, for that matter, the world.

The UNDP has contributed to Guyana’s development priorities in particular by supporting the objectives of the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), promoting economic development and combatting climate change.

As pointed by the UNDP Resident Co-ordinator, the partnership agreement between the UN and the Guyana Government reinforces the shared commitment to the achievement of the global goals and to mobilise the UN to accompany Guyana’s remarkable development trajectory. According to the Resident Co-ordinator, ‘across all the areas of sustainable development, there is great momentum in Guyana even though there is much to be done for Guyana to reach its own national development ambitions.’

Guyana is indeed on the path of economic recovery. The road to recovery has never been easy but the support it received from the several developmental partners has been overwhelming. The assistance by the United Nations and its several agencies has been particularly beneficial especially in critical areas such as defence of our territorial integrity and our national security. The United Nations through its Secretary-General has been highly instrumental in the search for a solution to our territorial dispute with neighbouring Venezuela, despite the intransigence displayed by our neighbour to the west. The matter is now before the World Court for adjudication.

The UNDP had also played a role in the strengthening of our democracy by way of technical assistance to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Under the former Chairman of GECOM, such assistance was frowned upon, but given the new dispensation at GECOM it is expected than any assistance aimed at institutional strengthening of that important body would be welcomed.

As mentioned by President Mohamed Irfaan Ali at the virtual Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden, it will take the collective effort of all stakeholders globally to safeguard democracy from those who are inclined to gain power other than through the democratic route. In this regard, the United Nations and its several arms, including the UNDP, must be commended for the role it has played in the consolidation of democratic rule in Guyana and in the overall development of Guyana.