GENEVA, May 2, CMC – Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Oneidge Walrond, will lead Guyana’s delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, where the country’s human rights record will be examined next week.
The UN said Guyana will be making its fourth presentation on Tuesday, May 6. The country is one of 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session that ends on May 9 this year.
The first, second and third UPR reviews of Guyana took place in May 2010, January 2015 and January 2020, respectively.
During the fourth UPR cycle, states are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow up on and highlight recent human rights developments in the country.
The UPR Working Group is comprised of the 47 member states of the Human Rights Council. However, each of the 193 UN member states can participate in a country review.
It said that the documents on which the reviews are based include a national report provided by Georgetown, information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the special procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities as well as information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations, and civil society groups.
The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs for the review of Guyana are Belgium, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Dominican Republic.
The UPR Working Group said it is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Guyana on Friday, May 9 and that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during its review.
CMC/ag/or/2025