UK-funded human rights workshop addressed improving impact of civic organizations
-High Commissioner affirms solidarity with rights defenders
Civic organizations here last week benefited from a three-day human rights workshop co-ordinated by the GHRA and supported by the UK Magna Carta Fund, through the good offices of the British High Commission.
A release yesterday from the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) said that it was led by the Brazil-based human rights expert Conor Foley. Trade unionists, activists in child, women, environment and indigenous rights, journalists and anti-corruption activists were made aware of techniques to improve the impact of their work in a situation of shrinking democratic space. The release said that the workshop provided an opportunity for the agencies to look at themselves and their methods of operation rather than at particular problems.
Participants of the workshop assessed some well-known recent human rights cases such as the Mahdia tragedy where 20 children died in a fire and the rape case of an indigenous girl from the standpoint of the effectiveness of their agencies’ response – what could have been done more effectively and what worked.
The final day of the workshop addressed the upcoming Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) as providing an opening for addressing rights-related issues in Guyana. Despite a narrow selection of the Commission members, the release said that this process represents an opportunity to address the two fundamental governance problems in Guyana: namely, the impasse in Parliament between government and opposition parties and the breakdown between the civil and political sectors.
The release said that the major CRC of 1999-2000 saw a great deal of positive civic involvement, challenging the notion that civic engagement with politics is always a form of ‘naysaying’.
Members of the workshop were “animated” to learn that draft legislation on Non Governmental Organisations is in the works. The programme ended with a review of the strengths and pitfalls of social media as an advocacy tool.
An underlying consideration motivating the workshop was the crucial need to challenge the material accumulation-driven
lifestyles of recent decades which are no longer viable in a world bound by 1.5 centigrade limits to global warming.
“How we transition from a vision of material prosperity which has left twothirds of the world in want and misery to a more fair and inclusive form of living?
From this perspective, human rights become an everyday matter, reinforcing compassion with the notion of entitlement of the excluded, rather than being remote legal concepts which are the preserve of lawyers”, the GHRA release said.
The UK’s assistance to this workshop is seen as sending a strong message of support for civil society as the GHRA has come in for severe attacks in recent years from leading PPP/C government officials including Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC.
At the closing ceremony for the workshop on Wednesday at the Herdmanston Lodge, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, spoke of the Magna Carta Fund, portraying it as a pivotal instrument within the UK government’s arsenal to provide adaptable financing, specifically targeting human rights issues. Miller acknowledged the global challenges of human rights abuses, emphasizing that such adversity only fuelled the UK government’s determination to take action.
She affirmed the UK’s unwavering solidarity with human rights defenders worldwide, whether through bilateral engagements or collaborative efforts with multilateral agencies like the United Nations. Miller underscored the natural synergy between the British High Commission and the GHRA, highlighting their shared commitment to advancing human rights in Guyana.
Mike McCormack, President of the GHRA, conveyed appreciation to the British High Commissioner for the recognition of the GHRA’s endeavours in Guyana and for its role in organizing the workshop.
The Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy is the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s strategic fund supporting global human rights and democracy work.