Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai says Guyana’s model for Amer-indian development offers good practices and lessons.
Sukhai made these comments in her address at a forum at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, a press release from the ministry said. In her address, Sukhai said that Guyana’s constitution, laws and policies underscore the “equality of all peoples” and explicitly forbid discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, gender and religion. “In order to give effect to our Constitutional provisions, five Human Rights Commis-sions have been established namely; the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Gender and Equality Commission, the Indigenous Peoples Commis-sion and the Rights of the Child Commission,” she said, adding that these commissions offer both a constitutional framework as well as a mechanism for redress.
She also told the forum that Article 149G of the Constitution guarantees the protection of Indigenous languages, cultural heritage and way of life and forced assimilation is not tolerated. Further, she said that government respects the principle of collective rights and the revised Amerindian Act of 2006 created the legal regime for the protection and enforcement of collective rights to land and internal self-government. Sukhai noted that the titling of Amerindian land is exceptional in that it is collective, absolute, unconditional and forever and this is applicable to lands traditionally occupied and used by indigenous peoples.
“Importantly, land claims take into account the spiritual, cultural and traditional attachment of Amerindians to the land and legally, the Government is responsible for funding and land demarcation,” she said. For example, the Mining and Forest Acts respect Amerindian traditional rights to land and the Environmental Protection Act ensures that traditional activities are not constrained. The opportunity for Amerindians to establish community protected areas within their villages is also based on the consent of the community members.
Regarding self determination and governance villagers democratically elect their leaders and councils to administer their affairs; they are mandated to create their own village rules and community development plans which are provided for under the national laws and are as prescribed in the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) articles three and four.
The government also ensures the inclusion, integration and representation of indigenous peoples as all levels and constitutionally established mechanisms allow decisions to be made in keeping with the principle of free, prior and informed consent. This principle is particularly evident on issues such as land rights, access to indigenous communities, use of natural resources, the conduct of research projects and the establishment of protected areas. Further, national investment policies for development are consultative, all inclusive and non-discriminatory giving full effect to articles 21 and 23 of the Declaration.
At the same time, Sukhai said achievements made in advancing the development of indigenous peoples “have been challenged by the parliamentary opposition, in their vote against the financial allocation budgeted for projects and programmes,” She contends that this threatens further development of such communities, in addition to other challenges that arise from creating opportunities to continue to mainstream indigenous development into the national agenda.
The minister said Guyana’s success in this area is largely due to its national laws and policies, as well as implementation of the Declaration. “We are of the firm view that our model for Amerindian development offers good practices and lessons, especially as it relates to partnerships between governments and indigenous peoples and more specifically indigenous land rights.”
