Constitutional bodies vital to preserving democracy, human rights – Min Teixeira
Over the past weekend, a Human Rights and Sustainable Development Panel Discussion was held at the inaugural Human Rights Expo, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.
The Human Rights & Sustainable Development Conference examines human rights and sustainability, and how the two are connected under the theme “Equal Rights, One Guyana.”
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira took the opportunity to emphasise that democracy is essential to preserving human rights.
“We need to build our domestic remedies and our own constitutional bodies to make sure that they can carry out their mandate as outlined in the constitution, that they are able to be responsive to complaints, and that they are able to win the trust and confidence of the people who they are supposed to represent.”
She further stated that while human rights issues do arise in Guyana from time to time, Guyana’s constitution contains an anti-discrimination clause which gives persons the opportunity to have their issue heard in court if they have been discriminated against.
Furthermore, she outlined the importance of bodies like as the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Women and Gender Equality Commission, the Indigenous Peoples Commission, and the Rights of the Child Commission.
“We have to continue to work on building a more tolerant world. It doesn’t mean you have to agree on with whether someone is this way or that way. But you have to be tolerant and recognise that people have their rights and the right to be equal to anybody else.”
Minister Teixeira referenced recent strides the Government has made in the provision of housing, water, food, education and financial assistance to improve the lives of Guyanese across all ten administrative regions.
