UN constitutional experts who visited last month will analyse the information they gathered and provide guidance to UN decision-makers on technical support for the constitution reform process here.
According to a February 16th statement from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the team comprised Gerardo Noto, Regional Governance Advisor (UNDP – Panama), and constitutional experts Jason Gluck (UNDP – New York) and Rohan Edrisinha (UN Department of Political Affairs – New York).
They visited from February 5th to 10th and met and discussed constitutional reform with the Prime Minister, Ministers and Senior Advisors, the Speaker of the National Assembly and MPs, the Leader and senior members of the Opposition, Constitutional Rights Commissions members and the GECOM Chairman. The statement said that they also met a broad spectrum of leaders and activists of civil society organisations including religious groups, Indigenous peoples, women, youth, workers and the private sector, international partners, as well as scholars and experts, some of them directly involved in the last constitutional reform exercise of 1999-2001. Additional consultations will be conducted with diaspora organisations, the statement said.
The statement said that the UN experts “identified a wide consensus on the need for constitutional reform among national stakeholders. National actors acknowledged the challenges to advance constitutional reform because it demands not only full engagement and inclusion of all national stakeholders, but also consensus among political actors”.
The statement added that there was strong demand for an inclusive, transparent, and participatory process. Keen interest on citizen awareness and capacity development was shown by civil society organizations. The statement said that “Stakeholders acknowledged long-term UN assistance in Guyana and looked forward to benefit from its experience in supporting constitutional reform and tap into other countries’ good practices.”
It stated that the mission members will “analyze the rich information shared by stakeholders and provide guidance to UN decision-makers as regards technical support for the constitutional reform process in Guyana, which is to be nationally driven and owned.” The team visited Guyana following a request from the government here for support in the constitutional reform process. The government request has raised concerns that this is an attempt to delay the reform process as local experts managed the 1999-2000 constitution reform process and the key outstanding issues are well known.
