The International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly—Guyana (IDPADA-G) was established in 2017 by an assembly of African Guyanese civil society organizations, with the support of the then government, to serve as Guyana’s Country Coordinating Mechanism for the UN Decade for People of African Descent. Sixty-five (65) African Guyanese organizations from across Guyana form IDPADA-G’s General Assembly and focus its work on addressing the needs and aspirations of African Guyanese.
Each year since 2018, Guyana’s Parliament has approved a modest subvention (grant) to support IDPADA-G’s work. However, in September of this year, in spite of the approved Parliamentary allocation for 2022, the government of Guyana ceased disbursing the monthly payment of the grant funds resulting in the curtailment of the work of IDPADA-G, which is dedicated to the goals of the Decade.
The member organizations of IDPADA-G are concerned 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 Guyanese of African descent.
In preparation for the First Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, IDPADA-G asked four Guyanese from varying professional backgrounds and ethnicities to comment, from their vantage point, on the status of African descendants in Guyana today, with a view to raising awareness and mobilizing support for reparative action.
About the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
On 2 August 2021, the General Assembly adopted its resolution 75/314, in which it formally operationalized the Permanent Forum 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, as well as an advisory body to the Human Rights Council, in line with the programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent and in close coordination with existing mechanisms”.
The General Assembly had earlier decided, in its resolution 69/16 of 18 November 2014 entitled “Programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent” to establish such a body.
The first session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent will be held from 5 to 8 December 2022, in Geneva.
More about the mandate of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
Resources
The session will also be webcast live via UN Web TV
UN Documents for the First Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent:
See more : 1st Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
Visit to join the panel discussion via Zoom and IDPADA-G YouTube channel
Zoom Meeting Details
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