One day after Tourism Minister, Oneidge Walrond, told the Third Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, currently underway in Switzerland, that the Guyana government has been investing heavily in Afro- Guyanese and their communities, Attorney-at-Law, Nigel Hughes, who represents the local International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly Guyana (IPADA-G), told the Committee that in Guyana today, Afro-Guyanese are facing discrimination and marginalization.

Delivering his statement today at the forum on behalf of IPADA-G, Mr. Hughes noted that Afro- Guyanese are subjected to systemic discrimination.

Mr. Hughes said African Guyanese are daily victims of a number of atrocities in the country.

He said the 2001 Durban declaration and the United Nations declaration 2013, which call for the inclusion of history of African descents to be included in the school curricula among other calls, have all fell on deaf ears.

“Unfortunately, the United Nations calls has not been heeded by the government of Guyana, that has resulted in the perpetuation of an identity crisis, non-recognition, injustices and underdevelopment of people of African Descent. This adds to systemic discrimination. In Guyana, even the courtesy of a meeting with the Government to advocate for a plan of action for the decade and the introduction of history of people of African descent into the school curricular in particular has been denied,” Hughes stated.

Hughes told the forum that the government is seeking to decimate IPADA-G by defunding the organization without merit or justification.

Additionally, he told the forum that the contribution of the People of African Descent in Guyana, is either not-recognized or is subject to degraded revisionism.

“We draw attention to this body to the concluded observation of the recent Human Rights Committee hearing under the ICCPR in 2024, when they stated that the “Committee remains concerns about the absence of a comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that may extend beyond discrimination in employment, provide full and effective protection against all forms of discrimination prohibited under the covenant, including direct, indirect and multiple discrimination’,” Hughes stated.

Hughes said while some may appear to paint a picture that there is equality in Guyana, a large number of African Guyanese are systemically excluded and discriminated against.

News Source understands that the Guyana Government delegation at the forum wanted to reply to Mr. Hughes’ statement, but that request was denied by the UN body.

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