Parliamentary Affairs Ministry engages civil society on Montevideo Consensus

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance hosted a consultation with civil society actors on the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development.

The Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development is a regional agenda with 120 initiatives to surveil the commitments made in the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The conference, held in 1994, highlighted a gamut of societal issues and solidified the position that sustainable development is a crucial tenet of human rights and that people must be at the centre of developmental policies.

The resulting Plan of Action with objectives, targets, and indicators encompassed principles such as sustainable economic growth, gender equality, decrease in infant, maternal, and neonatal mortality rates, access to sexual and reproductive health services, migrations, rights of indigenous peoples, disability, technology and combatting racial discrimination.

According to the ministry, it is currently in the process of preparing Guyana’s second report on the Consensus. This stage of preparation facilitates inclusivity and transparency, engaging all key actors through a series of consultations.

This consultation and state party reporting on the consensus is in keeping with one of the numerous human rights treaty reporting responsibilities of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

This process is being further supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Guyana.

Last year featured a significant leap for Guyana on the 2022 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index, as the country moved 18 spaces upwards from 53rd in 2021 to 35th among 146 countries. This move is reflective of the positive and transformational impact of the government’s plans and policies as part of its development agenda.