Guyana returns to Geneva for fourth round of UN rights assessment

Guyana’s human rights record will be examined for the fourth time by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group next Tuesday, during a meeting at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The UPR is a peer review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States and is composed of 47 Member States of the Human Rights Council.

Since its first session in April 2008, all 193 Member States have undergone three reviews.

During the fourth UPR cycle, States are expected to outline the steps they have taken to implement the recommendations from their previous reviews, which they committed to follow up on, and to highlight recent human rights developments in their countries.

Guyana is one of 14 States to be reviewed by the Working Group during its current session, which runs from 28 April to 9 May.

Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Oneidge Walrond, will lead the country’s delegation.

The documents on which the reviews are based include: the national report – information provided by the State under review; reports from independent human rights experts and groups, known as the special procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; and submissions from other stakeholders, including national human rights institutions, regional organisations, and civil society groups.

Country representatives serving as rapporteurs for Guyana’s review include Belgium, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Dominican Republic.

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Guyana on 9 May.

Guyana’s first, second, and third UPR reviews took place in May 2010, January 2015, and January 2020, respectively.