“In recognizing me I want to say that you really have recognized all the staff members who you don’t see in the newspapers and you don’t see on the TV that work behind the scenes.”

This past weekend, the New York Guyana Medical and Humanitarian Mission (NYGM) held a special recognition ceremony, where Education Minster Priya Devi Manickchand was bestowed with one of its accolades.
It was described as “long in the making” since the award gives recognition to the Minister for her work during her tenure as Human Services and Social Security Minister.
Manickchand, in accepting the honour, told those gathered, inclusive of Cabinet colleagues, family and staffers of the Human Services Ministry that it is the “team” that deserves the honour.
She explained that as she contemplated what to tell the audience she realized that she is being honoured for something that she feels “privileged to be doing.”

Manickchand was adamant, however, that none of what she has been able to achieve over the years was done in isolation.
“I am being honoured tonight for doing something I have been privileged to do…In recognizing me, I want to say that you really have recognized all the staff members who you don’t see in the newspapers and you don’t see on the TV that work behind the scenes. Without the workers at Human Services, the very dedicated workers who are not celebrated, usually we could not have done the work.”
The Minister added that in her new post as Education Minister she is heartened to be in the company of “officers working night and day thinking about what next we can do to make the lives of Guyanese better”.
NYGM singled out the Minister for special mention as a result of several pieces of critical legislation she managed to successfully pilot through the National Assembly.

It was pointed out that the Minister was being honoured “for her services and contributions to the development of key legislation for the development of children’s lives and for her contributions and integrity in executing her duties”.

Manickchand is credited with successfully bringing to the law books of the nation: the Protection of Children Act, the Adoption of Children Act, the Status of Children Act, the Childcare and Development Services Act, the Custody, Contact, Guardianship and Maintenance Act, the Childcare and Protection Agency Act and the Sexual Offences Act.
“Priya is undoubtedly an inspiration to us at NYGM, as well as other groups and the Guyanese people…We are extremely grateful for her support and encouragement which are incalculable. As a token of our appreciation, we feel that it is appropriate to award her with this citation.”
Those were the words of NYGM’s Project Administrator Holly Persaud before presenting the Minister with her recognition plaque.

Persaud reminded that during the group’s interaction with the Minister, “we could discern the fire in her eyes, and she always spoke passionately about the welfare of our children.”
Additionally, Manickchand is also credited for the establishment of the Childcare and Protection Agency, expanding Legal Aid Services from being accessible in the capital city alone to six of ten regions, conducting a countrywide sexual violence campaign and passing a modern Sex Offences Act which revolutionized the way such offences are viewed and treated in Guyana.
Minister Manickchand was also responsible for publishing the National Policy on Domestic Violence and establishing a Men’s Affairs Bureau to work along with the Women’s Affairs Bureau to counter ills people, especially women, face such as gender-based violence.
Manickchand, during her stint as Human Services Minister, a position she assumed and became the youngest Cabinet member at the time, also established the Women of Worth programme, which is a collaboration with a private bank to provide a micro-credit facility for low income earning single-parent women which features a collateral free, low interest loans.

Tasked with addressing the psycho-social needs of victims of Trafficking in Persons, Manickchand has also implemented many policies that saw real change happen in the manner victims were treated and perpetrators dealt with.

Following the Regional and General Elections in 2011, newly-elected Head of State Donald Ramotar extended an invitation for Priya Manickchand to join his cabinet, this time to head and reform the Education Sector.
Manickchand, a mother of two, will celebrate her second wedding anniversary to Captain Bhageswhar Murli of the Guyana Defence Force tomorrow.

NYGM is a charitable non-profit organisation incorporated in the state of New York.
Its mission is four-fold in nature – cultural, educational, medical and humanitarian – and targets communities in New York, the Caribbean and Guyana, having been established some 14 years ago

Source: By Gary Eleazar; https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/08/07/manickchand-cops-humanitarian-accolade/

IN appreciation of her services to Guyanese while she held the   portfolio of Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Education Minister Priya Manickchand was honoured by the New York Guyana Medical and Humanitarian Mission (NYGM) at a ceremony, at the Hotel Tower on Saturday evening. Minister Manickchand has been a strong supporter of the mission’s work.

Her passion for the welfare of children has led her to express deep satisfaction with the NYGM 2011 mission.
Minister Manickchand also offered suggestions to the organisation for future missions to Guyana.
“I’m really honoured here tonight for being gifted with a plaque for doing something I’m privileged to do”, Minister Manickchand noted.

Acknowledging that she could not have done it alone, Minister Manickchand commended and expressed gratitude to all the workers whose efforts contributed to her being singled out for the honour.
NYGM is a non-profitable non-governmental organisation incorporated in New York. Its mission is four-fold: to provide cultural, educational, medical and humanitarian services to countries within the Caribbean, New York, and Guyana.

Almost all of the resources contributed for the organisation’s charitable work are donated by its members. They are Sarah Persaud, Natalie Poonam Phagu, Samantha Persaud, Dr. Tara Singh, Shana Persaud, Jean Ramdeo, Holly Persaud, Dr. Mala Shewram and Dr. Anila Ramphal.

Source: http://guyanachronicle.com/2012/08/06/education-minister-honoured-by-new-york-humanitarian-mission

IN appreciation of her services to Guyanese while she held the   portfolio of Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Education Minister Priya Manickchand was honoured by the New York Guyana Medical and Humanitarian Mission (NYGM) at a ceremony, at the Hotel Tower on Saturday evening. Minister Manickchand has been a strong supporter of the mission’s work.
Her passion for the welfare of children has led her to express deep satisfaction with the NYGM 2011 mission.
Minister Manickchand also offered suggestions to the organisation for future missions to Guyana.
“I’m really honoured here tonight for being gifted with a plaque for doing something I’m privileged to do”, Minister Manickchand noted.
Acknowledging that she could not have done it alone, Minister Manickchand commended and expressed gratitude to all the workers whose efforts contributed to her being singled out for the honour.
NYGM is a non-profitable non-governmental organisation incorporated in New York. Its mission is four-fold: to provide cultural, educational, medical and humanitarian services to countries within the Caribbean, New York, and Guyana.
Almost all of the resources contributed for the organisation’s charitable work are donated by its members. They are Sarah Persaud, Natalie Poonam Phagu, Samantha Persaud, Dr. Tara Singh, Shana Persaud, Jean Ramdeo, Holly Persaud, Dr. Mala Shewram and Dr. Anila Ramphal.

Source: http://guyanachronicle.com/2012/08/06/education-minister-honoured-by-new-york-humanitarian-mission

THE Mahaicony Movement Team, comprising founding members Bevon Shepherd, Steven Jones, Roy Vaux, along with some other Mahaiconians, began a one-day initiative in 2011 that catalysed this year into a three-day affair, projected to become a calendar event called “The Mahaicony Village Weekend”. 

Last Friday evening, the Mahaicony Community Centre ground came alive with floodlight tournaments in basketball and football – the Prime Minister Region 5 Basketball Tournament and the Region 5 Seven-a-side Football Tournament.
Yesterday morning, the Ministry of Health hosted a Health Fair under the auspices of the Team, as part of the Mahaicony Village Weekend.

Bevon described this event as highly successful. He informed the Guyana Chronicle that, as part of the Health Fair, there was a blood drive, glucose and blood pressure testing done on the spot, and display of oral hygiene; with health-related pamphlets shared out by the Ministry of Health. The Health Minister, Dr. Bheri Ramsarran, was in attendance, and was an active participant at that event.
In the afternoon Mahaicony honoured five of its own outstanding citizens, namely Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, Dr. C.E. Harricharan, Mr. Clyde Butts, and GDF Pilot Mr. Courtney Buyrne.  However, the Prime Minister’s son, Nikolai, attended the ceremony on his father’s behalf, as the PM was attending the funeral of his mother.

Mr. Clyde Butts, cricketer  extraordinaire, as Chairman of the W.I. Selectors , was of course busy elsewhere with business having to do with the first Test match between New Zealand and the West Indies; and Mr. Courtney Buyrne was busy with pressing duties.
During the afternoon programme, the top student for Region 5, Andrew Persaud, was also awarded with a trophy, with Minister Priya Manickchand doing the honours. Andrew has been an outstanding student, according to chairman of the proceedings, Mr. Francis Downer, and had, among his many accomplishments, won the National Dramatic Poetry Competition for 2011.
Yesterday’s events concluded with a cultural programme including songs, dances, skits and poetry.
Today, the final day of the Mahaicony Village Weekend, will conclude with the finals of the Prime Minister Region 5 Basketball Tournament.

In a very brief address following the awards ceremony, Minister Priya Manickchand thanked the young men who  envisioned the initiative and had the courage to follow through, despite the many constraints, not least of which was funding.

On behalf of the honorees, she thanked Mahaiconians for the honour bestowed upon them, stating: “When we do what we do, it is not usually to be recognised, or to receive a plaque or an award. It is really responding to a call to service, but it is always lovely to have persons note and say thank you; but it is really you we want to thank for giving us all the opportunity to serve you. So, Mahaicony and the rest of Guyana, we say thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve.”

That three young men can pull off such an event without much support of any kind says a lot for their commitment to their community, their dedication to enhance and showcase their beautiful and bountiful part of Guyana, and their perseverance in the face of great odds.
They deserve much commendation for their organizational skills; but greater synchronization is needed, because the regional authorities should play a greater part in such activities, which could only enhance the success of a very successful initiative.

Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/07/29/at-weekend-village-do-pm-sam-hinds-minister-manickchand-among-honorees-thanks-to-initiative-of-three-mahaicony-visionaries

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand informed the National Assembly on Wednesday that the new University of Guyana (UG) Council is almost fully constituted, with only two organisations still to identify their nominees.

Manickchand made the announcement after a petition to appoint a new UG Council was presented to the National Assembly by APNU MP Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and was subsequently sent to a special select committee by House Speaker Raphael Trotman.

Manickchand informed the House that pursuant to the University of Guyana Act, the Education Ministry and the University invited the relevant organisations to nominate persons to the Council. The life of the previous Council ended on June 30. The minister explained that Section 13 of the Act stated that the Council shall consist of 26 members, including the Chancellor, Pro Chancellor, and Principal and Vice Chancellors.

The other members, according to the Act, must be drawn as follows: One person to be nominated by the Committee of Deans, one person to be nominated by the Academic Board, one from the Guild of Graduates, one from the Student Society, one from the University of Guyana Workers’ Union, one from the Ministry of Educa-tion and Cultural Develop-ment, one from the Ministry of Finance, one from the political Party in Office, one from the minority leader, four from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), one from the Guyana Trades Union Congress, three by the Minister, six persons by the Chancellor of whom one shall be from each of the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada, American University of State Colleges and Universities, Committee for International Cooperation and Higher Education of the United Kingdom and the University of the West Indies (UWI). Minister Manickchand said that a Council has been appointed with nominees from the organisations that were named by the Act, in an effort to get truly representative nominees from interest groups and to ensure that members have been chosen through an open and inclusive participatory process. Additionally, it was noted that a consultancy which is being managed by Trevor Hamilton and Associates of Jamaica, is ongoing to address the governance structures of UG.

‘Opposed’

UGSSA President Dr. Patsy Francis said yesterday that although a council is being put in place based on the current statutes, this will not help the university. “She (Manickchand) is saying look, we are operating within the law’ but that is exactly what we are against, we don’t want that. We want the statutes to be changed,” she said.

Francis explained that with the current composition, the Ministry can appoint up to eight persons, which makes a quorum for decision making. “That is what has been happening in the past.- by the time she (Manickchand) finish putting on whoever she wants, these eight people can make any decision they want,” the UGSSA President said, adding that currently, there is no representative of her union. “The party people dominate the council…. we want the council to be depoliticised,” Francis maintained. The petition calls for the appointment of a new, fully constituted Council to ensure that UG “has a governing body that has the capacity to transform the institution into a truly national asset.”

In framing the petition, the University of Guyana Senior Staff Society (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) and the University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS), which comprise the ‘Operation Rescue UG’ movement, declared that they have “no confidence” in the current council, which they do not trust as currently constituted “to conduct its business impartially and in the best interest of the growth and development of the institution.” The UGSSA and the UGWU noted that the “outdated” and “ineffective” council structure that makes it “deficient” remains. Among the deficiencies they identified is that the council lacks sufficient academic representation of the university in its composition.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/guyana/07/27/manickchand-says-new-ug-council-almost-fully-constituted/

A PETITION was brought to the National Assembly through A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) member, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine on behalf of the students, staff, alumni and friends of the University of Guyana, calling on the House to appoint a new, fully constituted Council. Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand subsequently, informed the House that pursuant to Section 13 of Chapter 39:02 of the University of Guyana Act, the Ministry and the University invited the relevant organisations to nominate persons to the Council. The life of the existing Council ended on June 30.
Section 13 stated that the Council shall consist of 26 members including the Chancellor, Pro Chancellor, and Principal and Vice Chancellors. The other members, according to the Act, must be drawn from the following:

* One person to be nominated by the Committee of Deans
* One person to be nominated by the Academic Board
* One from the Guild of Graduates
* One from the Student Society
* One from the University of Guyana Workers’ Union
* One from the Ministry of Education and Cultural Development
* One from the Ministry of Finance
* One from the political Party in Office
* One from the minority leader
* Four from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as in the opinion of the Minister, are most representative of the interests of women, farmers, Amerindians and business.
* One from the Guyana Trades Union Congress
* Three by the Minister, who in the Minister’s opinion can contribute significantly to the University in the field of medicine and law
* Six persons by the Chancellor of whom one shall be from each of the following:
*Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada
*American University of State Colleges and Universities
*Committee for International Cooperation and Higher Education of the United Kingdom
*The University of the West Indies (UWI)

In an effort to get truly representative nominees from interest groups and to ensure that members have been chosen through an open and inclusive participatory process, a Council has been appointed with nominees from the organisations that were named by the Act.
Minister Manickchand said that with the exception of two bodies that are yet to submit names, the Council is fully constituted.
Additionally, a consultancy which is being managed by Trevor Hamilton and Associates of Jamaica is ongoing to address the governance structures of UG.

Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/07/27/constitution-of-new-ug-council-in-accordance-with-law-minister-manickchand-tells-national-assembly  

Given the serious challenges facing this nation in this second decade of the 21st century, we must focus on one major goal to transform how the next generation lives.

Let’s choose one thing we could do well, focus on it, and make the defining difference – one that works, that propels the children among us to the heights of their potential.

With vision, strong action, determined focus, and the practical wisdom to define the future, Ms Manickchand’s role in cultivating and shaping our future is second to none in this land.

Under her guidance lies the future of our children, from kindergarten to university. At the University of Guyana, her leadership could transform our national capital asset of skills.

At the teachers’ training college, the nursing school, vocational institutes such as Critchlow Labour College and the Technical Institute, Manickchand’s leadership is absolute, and crucial.

The responsibility that rests in the Minister’s hands really confers on her the role of mother of the nation’s future. It’s an astonishing opportunity for this young leader to shape the future, and secure her legacy as a great leader of the 21st century Guyanese nation.

This morning our children wake up in the hinterland, in Linden, in Berbice, in Essequibo, in Georgetown, and look up to us adults to make this society a place where they could dream, strive and embody a realistic opportunity to self-develop.

Our nation has a lot to be thankful for, despite the dire state of the society. Many of our children, cultivated under the guiding hand of their ambitious parents, achieve much.

When we look across our nation, including the global diaspora, we see so many outstanding Guyanese. And many of us overcame enormous odds. In the 1980’s, huge challenges faced citizens: we could not source books, had to line up for scarce basic food, faced gross inefficiency in public transport, lived with a crisis in national housing.

If we owe late President Forbes Burnham a big thank you for anything, it’s that his government cultivated universal education, from nursery to university.

In fact, Ms Manickchand would do well to restore a tiered system of free University education for each citizen who qualifies through the secondary school system. As a nation we suffered economic constraints of unimaginable proportions compared to the rest of the Caribbean. But, we got an education, at one point achieving a 98 percent literacy rate.

Today, our national capital asset of skills lies at the bottom of the Caribbean pool. Our national functional literacy rate dropped to the alarming crisis of a shocking 23 percent, according to an official source.

And Minister Manickchand must take her responsibility as a mandate of utmost importance.

In this generation, we will see more lawyers, doctors, leaders and professionals emerge. Our nation does work. But, for too many of our children, the future looks bleak and forlorn.

The established national education system offers great opportunities for transforming our communities across this land.

Each school building offers a place that could function as a transformational community hub. Apart from a training centre for our children during the day, the Minister could open up these buildings, all across this land, in every village and town, including Moruca, Lethem and Rupununi, for the University of Guyana to hold adult night classes.

The Minister could easily equip these satellite classrooms with digital lectures through wifi, maybe in community development partnership with Digicel or GT&T, for example.

This simple strategy would open up the landscape of knowledge and training for personal development to citizens all across this land. Instead of adults idling away their time, they could embark on the joy of learning, of becoming knowledge workers.

Plugging the citizenry into a knowledge culture instils in our people the confidence, initiative and personal leadership for local community projects that foster local development. Such a strategy also quickly builds a national capital asset of skilled, thinking people.

Our school buildings, flung across this vast land, from Orealla to the Pomeroon to Lethem, offer a fantastic opportunity to empower each citizen with a national knowledge culture.

Through the national education system we could embark on all kinds of personal training and citizen development. We could hold fitness classes in the evening, literature forums and book clubs, classes for the development of moral and ethical social behaviour, personal development in essential life skills, and even personal finance training for household budgeting, and entrepreneurship.

In partnership with organizations like IPED, we could even embark on a national programme, through an entrepreneurship adult evening class in these school buildings, of fostering small business development across the country.

Manickchand’s role calls for vision, strategic planning, wisdom in networking even opposing forces to support her national development vision, and authentic leadership.

The Minister must overcome this evil, not allowing petty minds to stand in her way. Serious challenges face such visionary tasks, preventing forward movement of vision and purpose.

But, Minister Manickchand’s single-minded focus on this one goal, of transforming the future of our children over the next decade, is the solution we need. It would inspire our nation to achieve the tipping point for our latent potential for progress to sprout and grow.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/features/ways-of-looking-feeling/07/19/that-manickchand-mandate/

Team Guyana, which reported to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) last week in New York, was unhappy at the manner in which questions were posed by committee members and their reliance on “alternative sources” and the country will shortly lodge an official complaint.

“Guyana wishes to express some concerns as to the way some questions were posed… We wish to place on record that we will formally indicate through the respective channels our specific concerns,” Minister of Human Services & Social Security Jennifer Webster told members of the media during a press conference yesterday at the Foreign Service Institute.

Asked about the specific concerns of the team, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, who accompanied Webster to the forum along with Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira, said: “We expressed concerns at the frequent use of alternative sources, especially where there were information that was publicly available that would refute the information given by those alternative sources that caused the basis of a question.”

One example listed by the minister was when one committee member stated that an alternative source informed that because the public institutions do not offer abortions, Guyana has a high rate of maternal deaths. Another member said they were informed that only 13% of the hinterland population had access to information, which the ministry said was furthest from the fact.

“We respectfully call for a higher level of research to be done by members of the committee,” the education minister said.

Following Guyana’s report, CEDAW, which monitors the compliance of states with the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, acknowledged progress made on some issues, but expressed concern about women’s limited access to justice in Guyana, reported widespread discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals, and whether the root causes of trafficking in women were being addressed.

But yesterday Manickchand said that access to justice in Guyana has been a success story. “We used to have Legal Aid in Georgetown alone but now we have Legal Aid in regions, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10, we don’t in regions 1, 7, 8 and 9 and we must aspire to get there but practically speaking, the regions that have access to Legal Aid have 90 percent of the population. So how could you conclude that we don’t have access to justice?” Manickchand questioned.

Webster said they were quite clear on the mandate of the country, while adding that there were representatives from several NGOs in Guyana but they were not allowed to speak at the forum.

“During the session, several questions were posed by members of the CEDAW committee, which, in Guyana’s view, did not pertain to the specific CEDAW Convention and to the specific issues in Guyana’s seventh and eighth periodic reports that were submitted,” Webster added.

Manickchand said she believes that one of the results from the 23-member committee’s seeming reliance on alternative sources, which they did not name, was the downplaying of the progress the country has made.  She said at least one of the NGOs that was at the forum is not known in Guyana, and while the NGOs were not allowed to ask questions they were in closed-door sessions with committee members and might have conveyed some of the questions they wanted asked.

Report

Guyana’s report, which covers 2004 to 2010, was presented by Webster and stated that Guyana is considering proceeding in line with the recommendations of the Human Rights Council’s 2010 Universal Periodic Review. She noted that the country has acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and ratified the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families.

She admitted that a disabling factor to accurately assessing the country’s report to advance women’s rights has been the issue of timely collection and analysis of statistics.

“Our government has been taking steps to improve the collection of accurate data including the digitisation and electronic compilation of relevant data,” Webster said.

She reported to the committee that some of the challenges that continue to face the nation on this front are the prejudices, engrained cultural barriers and male attitudes in our society which are not easily dislodged.

“However, we reiterate that the Government of Guyana remains unswerving in its commitment to honour its obligations under the convention and will expend every effort with available resources — human, financial and technical — to ensure that we continue to make progress for all our people, especially our women and children,” the minister said

Webster also said that legislative and administrative steps have boosted the proportion of women in non-agricultural paid employment, as well as their representation in Parliament and Cabinet-level posts to more than 30%. She added that Guyana’s 2011 Millennium Development Goals progress report showed notable gender-equality achievements in education, curbing infant and child mortality, and stemming poverty, thanks in part to the government’s commitment to earmarking 25% of the budget for the social sector. The minister also noted that the report highlighted key challenges in maternal health. In terms of this, she said that with just six obstetricians to attend 15,000 births annually and limited support from development partners to address that deficiency, the government had taken steps to recruit obstetricians from overseas, while placing Guyanese doctors recently trained in Cuba in outlying regions of the country.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/guyana/07/14/guyana-to-file-official-complaint-over-un-committees-questioning/

EDUCATION Minister Priya Manickchand and Human Services and Social Security Minister, Jennifer Webster, who are just back after attending the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)’s annual meeting in the United States, yesterday registered their disappointment over what they deem lack of research in questions posed by some of the organisation’s members. 

The forum which opened on July 9 saw the Guyana delegation presenting its 7th and 8th reports which cover the period 2004 – 2010.
Several questions were raised which according to Minister Webster were centred on CEDAW’s convention issues and which could have been avoided had the committee members embarked upon responsible research.
She noted that at no time was the Guyana delegation’s presentation during the international forum unclear, as it related to the country’s mandate and its role to further advance women’s rights.
The committee’s members during their questioning session accused the government of not having Magistrates’ Courts in many parts of the country. Attributing their ‘information’ to ‘alternative’ sources, they also stated that only 13 percent of children in the hinterland have access to education.
This did not go down well with the Education Minister who expressed concern over the questions posed and their merit.

“We expressed concern at the frequent use of the ‘alternative sources’ which they credit their questions on, especially when there was information that was publicly available that refutes the information given by those alternative sources,” Minister Manickchand said.
“How can only 13 percent of our children in the hinterland have access to education when our record shows that there is a higher enrolment in the hinterland region than there is on the coast,” she said.
Minister Manickchand pointed out that while the forum is highly respected, there is dire need for a higher level of research by members of the Committee while compiling their questions, instead of relying wholly on alternative sources who have been blatantly peddling misinformation.
“We have the greatest of respect for members of the Committee and for the process itself and that is why we were there because we wanted to make sure that all this work we put into getting the report done that Guyana was there to not only highlight what it has done but, to give account to issues which were not done,” Minister Manickchand pointed out.

Despite the fact that the annual meeting has not yet concluded, a release has already been issued on Guyana, stating that the country needs more access to justice, when this subject is in fact a success story altogether.
Since the launch of legal aid in the 1970s, the service was  accessible only in the capital city. However, this has been significantly revamped and now legal aid is accessible in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10.
In its fight to have equal rights for all, Guyana signed the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and is in the process of implementing the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.
Its periodic report on the Convention of the Rights of the Child(CRC) was also brought up to date in 2010. Government has committed to the implementation of the CEDAW and the advancement of women’s rights and the attainment of true equality for women in society, to ensure that progress continues to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

“As a matter of policy, the government continues to prioritise strong commitment to investment in the social sector…it is our firm conviction that no investment is more important than that made in our people,” Minister Webster pointed out.
In Guyana’s opening statement to CEDAW’s annual meeting, the committee was briefed on the many legislative reforms that address children’s rights and protection which were enacted by government and, access to lands by  Amerindian communities. 
According to Minister Webster, while Amerindians now have more access to lands, six modern laws were enacted during 2009/2011 which will significantly bring the country in line with its treaty obligations to the CEDAW and the CRC.

“Equal access to education is another area of priority as it relates to the convention. Whilst Guyana can proudly say it has virtually achieved universal primary education, the most significant advancement has been equal access to primary and secondary education by Amerindian children,” she said.
In 1992, only one secondary school existed in the hinterland. Today, there are 13 such schools, with dormitories which offer Amerindian students equal rights for the first time as those of the coast.
The CEDAW meeting will conclude on July 27.

Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/07/14/manickchand-webster-disappointed-over-questions-posed-during-cedaws-annual-meeting-call-for-more-responsible-research-when-compiling-questions-on-guyanas-progress

The National Assembly yesterday unanimously passed the Civil Law (Rights of Persons in Common Law Union) Bill, with both government and opposition recognising deficiencies of the current laws in addressing inheritance rights upon the death of a spouse in a civil union.

With the enactment of the new law, persons in common-law unions for five years will receive the same privileges as a widow or widower, where their partner has died without making a will.

But Nandlall said that the shortcoming of the 1990 Act was that it did not extend to the death of a spouse, and in the interim the rules of intestacy prevailed in this vacuum. “The bill will benefit people right across the country,” he said, while adding that the legislation has been hailed as a victory for men and women.

Speaking on the legislation, Minister of Education and former Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand said that the bill, though gender neutral, will be to the benefit of women for the most part. She said that from her experience as a laywer and in her former ministerial portfolio, she knows that not a week goes by without many women complaining of being left out of the estate of their deceased partner after living a lifetime with a man.

Manickchand said while she does not believe that the bill encourages common-law relationships, the House should not take away the choice of cohabitation as an alternative to marriage. She said too that while the law caters already for common-law unions, this new legislation will make women more equal.

APNU MP James Bond assured the main opposition’s support and said that he was sure all Guyanese will accept the bill.

He added that by passing the bill, the National Assembly would have moved in leaps and bounds in protecting the interest of women in common-law unions.

According to its explanatory memorandum, the bill seeks to provide for the rights of persons in a common law union “in intestate succession.” Clause 2 of the Bill provides that a single woman living with a single man in a common law union for not less than five years or vice versa to “have the same power and rights regarding intestate succession under the law as a widow or widower or a surviving spouse. However, only one such union shall be considered for any benefit.”

Additionally, Clause 3 amends section 2(6)(a) of the Family and Dependants Provision Act, to qualify a common-law spouse based on co-habitation for five years immediately preceding their partner’s death.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/guyana/07/13/common-law-unions-inheritance-bill-passed/