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Last Sunday, 26 February 2023, International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly – Guyana (IDPADA-G) held an African History month event focusing not only on the African Guyanese history of land acquisition, as in the example of the first communal purchase of Plantation Northbrook – now Victoria Village, but also on the long history of unjust loss of land and diminished economic agency. Arising from those discussions, attendees of this hybrid event called for a Declaration to draw urgent attention to the protection of the rights of African Guyanese. The resulting CRITCHLOW DECLARATION follows hereunder.
THE CRITCHLOW DECLARATION
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Determined to achieve Recognition, Justice and Development – the United Nations goals for the Decade for People of African descent, we, members of the African Guyanese Community assembled at Critchlow Labour College today call on the government of Guyana, the judiciary, civil society, the diplomatic community, the private sector, media, and academia to hear our urgent appeal for:
I. Recognition of the Rights of African Guyanese on an equal footing to other groups
in society, in particular –
- the right to work free from discrimination
- the right to receive adequate compensation for work
- the right to economic justice in the award of contracts
II. The recognition and protection of the human and civil rights of African Guyanese. Protection from police brutality and unjust detention as well as access to legal representation and equal treatment before the law.
III. The recognition of African ancestral land, the protection of all African Guyanese owned land and our right to benefit equitably from the distribution of State land.
IV. The recognition of the right of African Guyanese to benefit equitably from the revenues of the Energy, Environmental and natural resource sectors.
V. The recognition of and preservation and teaching of African Guyanese history at all levels of the education system.
