Those who insist they speak for Afro-Guyanese continue to betray them

Last week (April 14-17), the fifth session of the Forum for the Decade of People of African Descent was held in Geneva. All sessions of the Forum so far have been held on a rotating basis at the UN headquarters in New York and Geneva. The fifth session of the Forum made a milestone decision – the sixth session will be held in Africa, at the headquarters of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This decision joins an even more historic milestone – the decision a few weeks ago when the UN declared that the slave trade (trafficking of humans) and slavery are among the most heinous crimes ever committed against humanity. Most of the countries that were perpetrators of this crime either voted against or abstained from the vote. It is a travesty that 46 countries could not or were unwilling to stand on the side of justice.
Guyana was represented at the Forum by Ministers Vanessa Benn and Steven Jacobs and the Deputy Chair of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), Mr Charles Ogle. Several civil society organisations (CSOs) from Guyana were expected to attend the forum, but chose not to attend for one reason or another. The three representatives from Guyana joined delegates from around the world to celebrate the decision of the UN to declare the slave trade and slavery among the worst crimes ever committed against humanity. It has been 25 years since the Durban Declaration and Action Plan (DDAP) sought to have the slave trade and slavery officially declared heinous crimes against humanity.
The Guyanese team commended the Forum organisers for agreeing to hold the next forum in 2027 in Addis Ababa. The team also joined delegations from around the world to reiterate the call for reparations. In fact, every delegation at the Forum repeatedly demanded meaningful reparations.
Guyana’s delegation spoke of the work being done in Guyana to give effect to the Durban Declaration and Action Plan and the work that is being done to ensure that global human rights commitments are being adhered to. The delegation highlighted achievements in housing, sports, education, health, cultural development (the orange economy), and economic empowerment. Ministers Benn and Jacobs and Charles Ogle conceded that in Guyana, like most countries in the world, this is a work in progress. They conceded that the implementation of the Durban goals, articulated 25 years ago, has not been perfect but that Guyana has made significant progress, particularly in the last six years.
Minister Benn, speaking on behalf of Guyana, brought to the attention of delegates an issue that no other delegation mentioned. While the slave trade and slavery have now been officially recorded as heinous crimes committed by European nations against people of African descent, those were not the last crimes committed against them. Even today, inequity is being justified by the same nations that were guilty of the crimes of slave trade, trafficking against humanity, and slavery. The same nations that refuse still to even apologise for the crimes of slavery and the slave trade, and that refuse to even consider reparations, insist that various economic and social inequities that disproportionately affect people of African descent must continue. Minister Benn brought to the attention of delegates one of these issues.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw how the global architecture continued to promote inequities that not only disadvantaged people in developing countries, the Global South, but which disproportionately affected people of African origin. Access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics (VTDs) favoured the rich countries (the Global North), even though the genetic resources of the Global South were largely responsible for the ability of the Global North to produce the required VTDs. We have seen this before with HIV/AIDS and Ebola outbreaks.
To end this disparity, the World Health Organisation and its 194 member states agreed to negotiate a Pandemic Agreement that would end the travesty of unequal access to VTDs. But in the negotiations so far for access to genetic resources and access to the VTDs that result from these resources, the Global North wants unconditional access to the genetic resources, with binding obligations on the Global South to share those resources, but they refuse to give the Global South equitable and equal access to the VTDs. They want binding obligations for the Global South to share those genetic resources with the Global North, but that the Global South must depend on voluntary goodwill to access VTDs. The bottom line is that they want to legalise biopiracy. Minister Benn made us proud by highlighting this modern-day crime.
In the meanwhile, the usual suspects, like Vincent Alexander, who did not attend the conference, but who insist he and others like him speak on behalf of Afro-Guyanese, bitterly complained that the representatives who attended brought propaganda to the Forum. He had an opportunity to attend, but refused to go and present his story. Last year, I had to chastise him for propaganda while he attended a human rights forum for civil society. This is what he and others do. They knew that Government representatives would be there to reject the propaganda they would have taken to Geneva. They did not attend because they knew the Government and other civil society representatives would reject their attempts to spread misinformation.
The Guyanese people, particularly the Guyanese people of African origin, were well represented at the fifth Session of the Forum for the International Decade of the People of African Descent. The world must act to bring equity, fairness, and justice. We must speak with one voice.