Ten years after the United Nations (UN) launched the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024), the lives of African Guyanese remain largely unchanged. Despite global attention and promises of transformation, there has been little to no measurable progress (socially, politically, or economically) for this community. The very systems that have historically oppressed African Guyanese remain in place, fortified daily by new barriers that continue to deny them one of the most basic human rights: the right to self-determination.
Now, with the UN forced to extend the decade, citing the gravity of the situation and the glaring lack of action by many states, including Guyana, it is time to take a hard look at why progress has stalled. Nine years ago, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) raised these very issues — yet government inaction persists, even though it bears primary responsibility for dismantling the structural discrimination and institutional roadblocks that hinder development.
Symbolism Without Substance
Guyana, as a UN member state with a significant population of African descent, has failed to uphold its obligations under the Decade’s mandate. The UN’s expectation was clear: member states must work with stakeholders to develop and implement a meaningful Plan of Action — not merely produce a document to wave around for appearances, but to create and activate mechanisms that lead to real, measurable change.
Since the UN first declared 2011 the International Year for People of African Descent, GTUC in January 2011, reached out to then-President Bharrat Jagdeo, outlining a comprehensive list of policy measures the government could implement. His response? Silence. Instead of dialogue or policy, the state held a couple of fetes — a tired and predictable gesture meant to trivialise legitimate demands for justice and equality. The practice continues today.
A Blueprint Ignored
What GTUC proposed in 2011 remains relevant — and largely unaddressed. Among the key demands:
- Establish an African Land Commission to address ancestral land rights, as first proposed in Parliament in 2007. The 2025, the works started under the David Granger/Moses Nagamootoo APNU+AFC coalition government must be continued,
- Recognise and document the contributions of African Guyanese to national development.
- Enact long-overdue reforms in policing, labour rights, education, and broadcasting access, particularly in communities historically targeted for marginalisation.
- Investigate the hundreds of extra-judicial killings between 2002–2006 and the 19th May 1999 police shooting of unarmed striking public servants. These incidents not only continue to fester in public memory without justice, but the scale of the problem has also increased significantly.
- Implement long-ignored agreements, such as the 2001 Hoyte-Jagdeo Accord and the 2000 GTUC-Government agreement on crime and housing for vulnerable communities.
- Restore funding to institutions like GTUC, and Critchlow Labour College which offers educational opportunities predominantly accessed by African Guyanese youth. In 2025, we add IDPADA-G.
These are not new demands. They are unfinished obligations — evidence of a government that prefers symbolic performance over systemic reform.
Time for Political Will, Not Performative Promises
If this extension of the Decade is to mean anything, the government must stop hiding behind slogans and start engaging in real, sustained action. The lives and livelihoods of African Guyanese have been systematically undermined for generations. The tools to change this exist. What’s missing is the political will.
The UN Declaration of Human Rights asserts that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” If Guyana is truly committed to these ideals, it must act accordingly — not through parades and platitudes, but by implementing concrete policies that redress historical injustices and create equitable opportunity.
The UN Decade for People of African Descent was not a cultural celebration. It was — and still is — a global call for reparative justice. Guyana must not only answer that call; it must deliver on it.
