Human rights, democracy key pillars for building tolerance

– Second Human Rights and Sustainable Development Panel Discussion hosted at ACCC

The Second Human Rights and Sustainable Development Panel Discussion was on Saturday held at Guyana’s inaugural Human Rights Expo, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira who spoke on the panel, touched on the importance of democracy and human rights.

“Democracy and human rights are the key pillars, the foundation on which we have a chance in the world to survive, and to be able to provide for our people…. The UN Secretary General pointed out that we have to work and continually work on creating a more tolerant world.”

She referenced the government’s initiatives to provide housing, water, food, education and financial assistance to improve the lives of Guyanese across all ten administrative regions.

While she outlined that there were human rights issues that arise in the country, she pointed to the importance of bodies like as the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Women and Gender Equality Commission, the Indigenous Peoples Commission, and the Rights of the Child Commission.

“We have not met the criteria of the Paris principles for National Human Rights Institutions. That’s true. We have not made it. We need to build our domestic remedies and our own constitutional bodies to make sure that they can carry out their mandate as outlined in the constitution, that they are able to be responsive to complaints, and that they are able to win the trust and confidence of the people who they are supposed to represent.”

The Human Rights & Sustainable Development Conference examines human rights and sustainability, and how the two are connected.