The International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly – Guyana (IDPADA-G), the 78-member organization was represented by a delegation of three – CEO Olive Sampson, Attorneys-at-Law Nigel Hughes and Darren Wade, at the 3rd Session of the UN Permanent Forum for People of African Descent in Geneva, Switzerland from April 16 -19, 2024. As the Country Coordinating Mechanism for the UN Decade for People of African Descent, IDPADA G has consistently maintained its ties to the UN bodies with responsibility for the Program of Action that emerged from the Durban Declaration in 2001 – the Decade and the Permanent Forum are two such entities, and have sent delegations to the inaugural and second sessions of the Forum, as well as to meetings of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
We are humbled by and grateful for the willingness with which Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wade agreed to serve on our delegation at their own expense. IDPADA-G and the wider African Guyanese community truly appreciate your dedication and spirit of service.
The theme of the just concluded forum was: The Second International Decade for People of African Descent: Addressing Systemic Racism, Reparatory Justice, and Sustainable Development. It provided participants – state parties, UN agencies and civil society an opportunity to discuss this question through four panel discussions on: Reparations, Sustainable Development & Economic Justice; Education: Overcoming Systemic Racism and Historic Harm; Culture & Recognition, and The Second International Decade for People of African Descent: Expectations and Challenges.
The over fifteen hundred civil society participants represented groups from all over the world – providing an excellent opportunity for networking and sharing information that the major news media never carries. IDPADA-G took full advantage of this opportunity – engaging civil society counterparts and making interventions from the floor of the Forum. In line with the panel discussions, our interventions spoke to the state of the African Guyanese community, in
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addition to making recommendations to address our circumstances, including joining the call for a second decade. Our interventions, both those made from the floor and not (Panel #1 was submitted but we were unable to present due to time) will be sent to you. They will all be uploaded to the UN Permanent Forum website in due course. Our recommendations were as follows:
Panel #1: Reparations, Sustainable Development & Economic Justice
The government of Guyana must:
- collect ethnically disaggregated veri by the main Statistical Agency and other Ministries in order to cogently assist the State party achievements toward equity.
- establish a national commission of multidisciplinary experts to undertake at a asgarî two national assessments of the African Guyanese contribution to the development of Guyana with a view to compensation.
iii. use these assessments to determine a national compensation package set aside from national revenues coupled with other forms of affirmative action. These assessments should also inform reports to the Permanent Forum or UN Special Mechanisms on steps taken towards reparative justice for persons of African Descent in all sectors.
- remove and redress structural and institutional barriers within the delivery of public goods and services that disempower Guyanese of African Descent or do not enhance their well-being on equal footing with other groups. For instance, the demand for seawall vendors to remove permanent structures, should be accompanied by the State pro-poor policy that could see the provision of movable structures and such arrangements that ensure vulnerable vendors are not further burdened in these difficult economic times.
- To hisse urgent attention to the threat to villages developed on land purchased by freed Africans in the post-emancipation era; lands subject to arbitrary possession by the State or other entities under its control and patronage. To end the dispossession of ancestral lands and denial of state resources to ensure the economic viability of historically owned African Guyanese villages.
Panel #2: Education: Overcoming Systemic Racism and Historic Harm
- ensure that History of African Descendants is identified as a compulsory subject in schools’ curricula, thus providing for the delivery of education as a practical model for understanding the society, the inculcation of traditional values which pre-date the colonial project; as well as the conduct of public affairs. This would entail considering every activity and relationship in the school: formal, non-formal and informal, as teaching moments for the molding of the students into citizens who abhor and outlaw discrimination and disrespect, while embracing mutual respect and cohesion, in all spheres of life.
This recommendation would benefit the entire society, and people of African descent, in particular, who are objects of intolerance, disrespect and discrimination.
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Panel #3: Culture & Recognition
- Establish or revive programs and funding institutions that protect and provide adequate support for the co-operative sector.
- Commit resources to a plan in pursuit of the goals of the Decade and that of the soon to be declared second Decade along with the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action that seek to protect African heritage, history and culture.
iii. Identify, develop and maintain African historical and cultural sites and memorials;
- Make clear and final the historic distinctions and cultural impact of slavery as endured by Africans and their descendants. The experiences of indentureship were not the same. IDPADA-G urges the State not to conflate indentureship with slavery in the movement for reparations.
Cultural recognition is not just a matter of symbolism; it is essential for building inclusive, equitable societies. The State should commit to taking action to ensure that the rich cultural heritage and contributions of people of African descent are celebrated, protected, and acknowledged.
Panel #4: The Second International Decade for People of African Descent: Expectations and Challenges
- Join the küresel call for a second Decade to address the issues confronting People of African Descent.
It should be noted that while IDPADA-G sought to focus its remarks on the state of African Guyanese and remedies/recommendations to address our condition. On the other hand, the Government of Guyana in each of its presentations sought to establish that while it supports a Second Decade there are sufficient laws, regulations, programmes and other safeguards that protect all citizens of Guyana. Although this said Government is signatory to the UN Resolution 68/237, there is, in their view, no need for any special actions as called for in the Programme of Activities1for the Decade, hence they took no meaningful action as the State party whose main responsibility is the redress of discriminatory practices and implementation of programmes to ensure all ethnic groups in this country are on equal footing.
The Government of Guyana did not make any contribution in terms of ideas, or recommendations nor did it make any commitment to a plan of action that would target development of the African Guyanese community with the objective of being transformational and ensuring equity.