Following its attendance at a high-level meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on people of African Descent, IDPADA-G has restated a call for a meeting with President Irfaan Ali even as it was accused by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of making erroneous statements at the forum.
The International Decade for People of African Descent-Guyana (IDPADA-G) attended the Geneva meeting from December 5 to 8 at which it made a series of claims about discrimination against Afro-Guyanese and also complained about the recent cutoff of its subvention by the government. The IDPADA was declared by the UN General Assembly in 2013 and the decade is being observed from 2015 to 2024.
In a statement on Sunday, IDPADA-G said that the forum offered a healthy and healing opportunity to address the longstanding and painful issues confronting persons of African Descent world-wide. It criticised the Guyana Government for not attending the forum, a matter which was not addressed by the ministry in a statement it had issued on December 16.
“The concerns of the African Guyanese community were represented solely by IDPADA-G. Unlike other regional governments, the government of Guyana did not see this meeting as a priority and so was not represented at this historic Forum. The decision not to attend doubles down on the perception that, to this administration, the issues of concern to the African Guyanese community are not unique; do not require specific attention; and consequently, are not even on the government’s radar”, IDPADA-G said.
At the forum, the group said that it “conveyed the perilous state of our community, especially when compared with other ethnic groups’ access to government resources or support and aligned with
UN reports…”
It said that as early as July this year it wrote to President Ali requesting a meeting to bring to his attention the issues of concern to the community so as to collaborate on the best way forward.
“His Excellency has never formally responded to our requested meeting. Instead, on three occasions when he happened to cross paths with IDPADA-G principals, he confirmed his awareness of the request and promised faithfully that the meeting would be scheduled. Five months later that meeting has not
taken place. In the interim the conditions facing our community have deteriorated, in the face of which, in addition to not fulfilling his promise to meet with IDAPADA-G, his government has abruptly frozen IDPADA-G’s funding”, the group said in the statement.
IDPADA-G said that the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs must realize that its outreach to the international community is a response to being ignored by those who manage the affairs of this country.
The group also lambasted government handouts to communities.
“Handouts, tiny contracts, basketballs, hugs and dancing do not address the fundamental concerns of the Guyanese of African descent nor does the regurgitation of commitments made at international fora. In fact, they add insult to injury. We therefore reaffirm our call for meaningful dialogue with the Ali administration on the state of African Guyanese and our plan of action for the remaining years of this Decade and for the soon to be confirmed second UN International Decade for People of African Descent 2025 – 2034”, the group said.
In its statement to the forum delivered by Olive Sampson, IDPADA-G launched a severe attack on the PPP/C Government.
“The history and politics of the current political regime does not bestow confidence. They have not acknowledged the plight of the African Guyanese and in pursuit of their own interest, largely ethnic, they have shown scant regard for the lives and livelihood of African Guyanese”, IDPADA-G said among other things.
IDPADA-G also voiced concern that no specific attention, as the Decade calls for, is being paid to the state of Guyanese of African descent.
“On the contrary, the policies of the state are further entrenching and
escalating the dire state of African descendants in Guyana. The disproportionately large size of the oil and gas sector in relation to the rest of the nation’s economy, the historically structured inequalities in resource allocation and wealth creation, combined with race-based politics in Guyana have contributed to an exponentially widening economic gap between Africans and others in the Guyanese
economy. African Guyanese have been marginalized – – kept out of the oil and gas sector and deprived of significant contracting opportunities, mining, logging and other natural resource concessions, in addition to being forced out of the public sector and shut out of the private sector in deference to an Indo-Guyanese oligarchy”, IDPADA-G stated .
The group noted that at the preparatory meeting for the Geneva forum, the member organizations of IDPADA-G recommended the formulation of policies on a number of areas. In the area of economic equity it called for the collection of disaggregated data and/or ethnic disparity audits as the basis for developing policies and programmes targeted at improving the lives of African descended people.
Special procedures
It also recommended special procedures at the level of the UN to ensure the protection of land ownership, compensatory measures for land unjustly dispossessed of and the return of land under illegal possession.
In relation to equal and fair treatment under the law, the IDPADA-G members called for the setting up of national oversight and monitoring agencies (in Guyana and other similarly affected states) to ensure government respects the Human Rights of People of African Descent and adheres to all established affirmative action and equity policies.
A video detailing what it said was the current status of African Guyanese was launched at a side event on November 30, 2022. It is available for viewing at: https://idpada-g.gy/permanentforum/.
In its statement on December 13, the ministry said the Government of Guyana was gravely concerned over the “totally erroneous and misleading statements” made by Sampson during the forum.
“The Government of Guyana refutes the contents of Ms Sampson’s statements in their totality; statements
which must be condemned and that can only serve to incite hatred, intolerance and mistrust in our society
– defeating the very purpose of the Forum”, the ministry said.
The statement said it was appropriate to retrace the genesis of the Forum attended by Sampson and the “consistent support” which the People’s Progressive Party administration has given to the efforts of the international community to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
The ministry statement adverted to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance convened in Durban, South Africa in 2001 where Guyana declared its stance against these ills. The statement added that in a review of the implementation and follow up to the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action, the United Nations General Assembly adopted on August 2, 2021 a resolution to establish the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent and Guyana joined in the unanimous adoption of this resolution.
The ministry noted that the Permanent Forum was established as a consultative mechanism for people of African descent and other relevant stakeholders as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent. One of the key mandates of the Forum is to contribute to the full political, economic and social inclusion of people of African descent in the societies in which they live as equal citizens without discrimination of any kind, the ministry stated.
“The inclusive policies being undertaken by the Government of Guyana speak for themselves and can be
proven. It is unfortunate that at such a significant forum, Ms Sampson chose to export the divisive
policies of her organization and to demonstrate the narrow racist bias that continues to cloud the
judgement of its members.
“The Durban Declaration affirms that `all peoples and individuals constitute one human family, rich in
diversity’. This Government will vigorously continue to promote unity in diversity and pursue its One
Guyana vision to ensure that every citizen is accorded a dignified existence and with due respect for
their rights and with equality before the law”, the ministry declared.
