One year ago President Irfaan Ali stood before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and pledged the Government’s commitment to work to eradicate all forms of racism.
The President was speaking at the UN’s headquarters, New York, at a High-Level Meeting to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, hosted under the theme “Reparations, racial justice and equality for people of African descent.”
At the meeting on 22 September 2021 Ali said, “the Government of Guyana will continue to work assiduously to eradicate all forms of racism and racial discrimination and to ensure inclusive development with equal access and sharing in Guyana’s wealth.”
There has been no indication, one year after, the government is serious about its commitment. Relationship with the main Opposition, the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) is estranged and hostile at best. The APNU+AFC represents half the society, a significant percentage of whom are African Guyanese.
Last July President Ali was invited- some said summoned- to Washington D.C by the Joe Biden administration. In meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris, his administration was urged to adopt policies that would realise “inclusive democracy” “shared prosperity for all Guyanese” and “transparency.” There has been no movement in this direction.
Last month the Government withdrew the subvention given to International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G). The subvention was in place for the last five years.
African Guyanese have listed a number of violations against them by the government including mistreatment, denial of cash grants, disregard for collective bargaining, disparity in treatment of squatting, land allocation, among others. The government’s response has been denial or accusation the Opposition is looking for “ethnic bogeyman” but has produced no verifiable evidence the allegations of discrimination are untrue.
At the UN meeting the president was quick to commit Guyana to join efforts at gaining international attention for reparations for the crime of African enslavement. Joining the call for reparative justice, the president said it must not only include a full and unconditional apology from those responsible and/or who benefitted from the Transatlantic Slave Trade of captive Africans but go beyond apology.
In Guyana, workers employed by the Bauxite Company Guyana Inc (BCGI), teachers, public servants and recently the Linden Utility Services Coop Society Limited (LUSCSL) are facing down a government that refuses to respect their constitutional right and engage them, through their unions, to ensure economic justice.
President Ali reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. This is a comprehensive, action-oriented document that proposed concrete measures to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and emphasised that equality and non-discrimination are not only fundamental principles of international human rights and international humanitarian law, but are at the root of political, social and economic development.
