Press Release: Statement Delivered by the Honourable Vanessa Benn M.P., Minister within the Ministry of Housing to the Fifth Session of the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent
Thank you Chair,
Permit me to make a quick reflection and to thank the organisers of this 5th Session for the valued inclusion of and prominence given to Youth on the agenda. Commendations are expressed to the panel of young experts who set the stage for the discourse. They are the epitome of rights holders and agents of change.
Guyana aligns with CARICOM’s statement delivered by Youth Ambassador Miss C. Parris-Campbell, and reiterates the call for tangible support to communities and states facing the onslaught of climate change. People of African descent are amongst the least contributors to this global challenge, which threatens our mere existence, but are the most vulnerable to its impacts.
Guyana restates our grave concern about the disproportionate treatment of migrant people of African descent fleeing from climate catastrophes, internal wars and other upheavals.
We wish to highlight a matter of importance to the global south, in particular people living in Africa, as we sometimes bear the brunt of pandemics. Presently, the WHO is negotiating a Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing system and we must demand that access to pathogen materials and our genetic resources must be accompanied with significant benefit sharing.
Chair, this Permanent Forum on people of African descent should also strengthen its participation at the Conferences of the Parties under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adding its voice in the negotiations at its annual conferences. Climate justice is a human right! Representation matters!
Guyana remains committed to advancing the transformation of people of African descent, both by supporting this Forum and by implementing deliberate policies and programmes for African-Guyanese to be economically secure and empowered architects of their own futures.
Guyana calls for greater support for this Permanent Forum to comprehensively deliver the Durban Declaration’s Programme of Action (DDPA). Sustained international commitment will enable this Second International Decade for People of African Descent to be truly transformative.
I thank you.
