THE fight continues for the fundamental rights of people across the world, but at home in Guyana, there are many areas where innovation has led to improved quality of life for Guyanese.

At the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, on Saturday, Cabinet members, members of the diplomatic corps and their support staff, civil society representatives, and public service technocrats gathered for the global observance of Human Rights Day.

Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gail Teixeira, on the first of two panel discussions for the human rights expo at the ACCC, called for a more tolerant world to be created where everyone’s rights are equal. Minister Teixeira shared the panel with representatives from the UN system and the EU.

Turning focus to climate change, Minister Teixeira said that since her time as health minister decades ago, the world has had to now consider changing disease patterns which could see malaria infections increasing in colder climates whereas it was in more temperate climates that the disease thrived.

She said Guyana should be proud of its step towards building the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) as a national development policy since it creatively addressed not only Guyana’s obligations of environmental protection, but also connected to the economic and human development needs of the country.

Climate change is the overarching struggle that affects us all, Teixeira noted, adding that it was the global south nations which championed for the commitments made by developed countries to support climate adaptation and mitigation measures which require funding and other support.

She acknowledged Guyana’s partnership with Norway, and highlighted that this country is the first to attain carbon credits for forest protection.

Another panelist, Michelle Braithwaite, a coordinator at the United Nations Office for Human Rights in Panama, outlined a number of human rights challenges in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Among them, she called for closer focus on the rising prison populations and the conditions in facilities, improving access to the judicial system, and for the strengthening of institutions which address human rights issues in keeping with international standards.

In her presentation, Minister Teixeira spared a minute to plug Guyana’s constitution as one of the most progressive in the Caribbean region, since the courts can address issues of human rights violations which are provided for in the constitution.

Recognising housing and water as human rights, a point also raised by the UN’s Braithwaite, Minister Teixeira recalled the difficulty of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government which had approached international financial institutions decades ago for support to a national housing programme, but were told that lands should be sold at market value.

Since the level of poverty in Guyana in 1992 was so extreme following the return of democracy, the government, in later years, sought to create its own housing programme.

In 2022, the minister continued, over 18,000 house lots were distributed by the PPP/C government since 2020 alone, of which 44 per cent went to single women whose names are solely reflected in the land titles. In some countries, including in Latin America, women are not allowed to own land, but must do so through a male.

With President Irfaan Ali’s Men On Mission (MOM) initiative in full swing, Minister Teixeira said attention must now be placed on the social, psychological and economic issues affecting men, which requires gender-specific funding in part from the international system to create change.

On indigenous rights, the governance minister said Guyana remains the model for the rest of the Caribbean and for most of the world as this country created legislation which guarantees land rights of indigenous peoples.

Added to that, some 14 per cent of the land mass of Guyana is owned collectively by the indigenous peoples.

Teixeira reminded those gathered that Guyana has taken innovative steps to addressing its unique challenges to ensure that the quality of living of Guyanese is of a dignified standard.