Guyana

Guyana is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly 43 per cent of the populations are below the poverty line (approximately US$1 per day per person); poverty is predominantly rural; most of the poor seek employment in agriculture or in the informal (self employed) sector. With the level of poverty, there is a direct relationship between the levels of education and health.

There is a large number of housing shortages in part of Guyana contribute to poverty level in Guyana. Urban areas are overcrowded, limited infrastructure, and governments low financing housing construction.

Due to such poverty, water sanitation is a major problem in Guyana. The water system and management resources lack quality. The gaps in water supply in interior and coastal locations have poor sanitation, especially in Georgetown and coastal areas. For this reason, the rate of diseases increased over the years.

Guyana became a party to the First Optional Protocol in 1993; Guyanese citizens have the opportunity to bring individual human rights cases alleging civil and political rights abuses before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Without it, victims cannot files cases before the Human Rights Committee.

However, upon Guyana withdrawal in 1998, the decision was made based on the interest in eliminating opportunities for death row prisoners to appeal to international human rights bodies. The withdrawal concern is fear of jeopardizing citizen’s rights. The pull out would eliminate all Guyanese citizens access to an international mechanism for the protection of their fundamental rights, lending support to the current trend in the Caribbean region.

The most recent report show the numbers in human trafficking is increased in Guyana. As a result of poverty level, employment opportunity and government instability. In one case, many Amerindian girls from mining communities were being trafficking for forced prostitutions. The Human Rights groups, Anti-trafficking legislation, with provisions for penalties, restitution and witness protection, and awareness campaign are trying addressed this problem.

Also, conditions in law enforcements detention remained harsh and in some cases to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The report of the Discipline Forces Commission recommended address to these issues, including rape and ill treatment in detention conduct by Guyanese officers.

The “Death Squad” is known as members in serving and formal police officers who had abducted, tortured, and killed dozens of people since 2002. The President of Guyana raised concerns about its lack of safeguard for witness and usage of police misconduct. In November 2004, the commission of inquiry announced the establishment of a witness protection program. However, such mistreatment still remain an issue in Guyana because lack of government involvement with the police force.

When the first case of AIDS was reported, there has been a progressive increase in the annual incidence of AIDS in Guyana. From most recent data from the Ministry of Health indicates that a total of 3,485 cases were officially reported by the end of 2003. Majority of infected people are between the ages of 20-39 years old, over 80 percent are having unprotected heterosexual intercourse due lack of sex education provided in Guyana. AIDS became the leading caused of death among the range of 25-44 years old.

In 1988-2000, Government of Guyana funded approximately 50% to HIV/AIDS program. The US respond strengthen the system to produce information to inform interventions for HIV/AIDS reduction and plan care for those affected.

Guyana is one of 15 countries of the Emergency Plan which collectively represent at least 50 percent of HIV worldwide. Under the Emergency Plan, Guyana received $12.2 million in FY2004 to support a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care program. In FY2005, the US is committing more than $19.7 million to support Guyana fight against HIV/AIDS.

Moreover, high levels of malaria were presented with 34,075 new cases. Other diseases such as filariasis, enteric fever, helminthiasis, nutritional deficiencies, and venereal disease are still significant. Yellow fever remains a constant threat as well.

Guyana leading health problems continue because of poor access to health services, especially in some coastal and interior locations. They receive poor delivery of drugs and medical supplies. On average, there are 0.2 doctors, 0.8 nurses, and 0.04 dentists per 1,000 people. Shortage of qualified health workers and poor management of health resources are affecting the overall heath care issue in Guyana. Adults and children do not have adequate access to vaccination and treatment.

The environment in Guyana is over 80 percent wildernesses, therefore, the country have little serious environment damages. The air is clean, however, water supplies are threatened by sewage and by agricultural and industrial chemicals. One potential problem is the pollution in the wells by salt water from the ocean. Still, the nation has experienced an increase in diseases related to water and food consumption.

Forest cover 79 percent total land area, 98 percent are used for farming purposes. The government-operated timber plant buys lumber from private sawmills and processes it with a view to standardizing and raising the quality of timber for export. However, only 20 percent of the forest area is accessible for timber exploitation. The lack of reliable electricity came from fossil fuel and hydropower in and around Georgetown has prompted much business to utilize imported small diesel-operated generators.

The flora varies with rainfall and soil composition. The coastal area, originally swamp and marsh with mangrove and associated vegetation have been long cleared for farming. Local fauna includes locusts, moth borers, acoushi ants, bats and other small mammals. In 2001, 10 of mammals, 3 breeding birds, and 8 types of reptiles are endangered. 44 of plant species were threatened with extinction.

The adult illiteracy rate was estimated at 1.5%, among the lowest in South America (males, 1.0%; females, 1.9%). Challenges in education includes the migration of skilled teachers, lack of equipment and learning materials and, in some instances, the poor physical condition of educated facilities.

Recently, there has been a global recognition of the value of education, as an instrument for change and centrality to development in every dimension in Guyana. This is view as a fundamental right in the Constitution of Guyana. Policy includes prohibition of school fees, the movement away from single-sex to co-education system, and the provision of textbooks free to cost to students. School attendance is free and compulsory for 8 years for children between the ages of 5 to 14. Church and private schools were taken over by the government and turn into public schools for better education equality.

Although educational standards are high, educational development program suffers in recent years from shortage of teachers and materials. The remaining problems in education consist of exodus of trained teachers from the classrooms, difficult to provide teacher in inferior, relevance of curriculum to the future, high drop outs rates in primary schools, low enrollment ratios in second schools, and inadequate resources for information technology.

Nonetheless, the Government of Guyana has engaged in both bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation projects with various countries and agencies, including United Kingdom, Canada, the “Inter-American Development Bank,” the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nation Children Fund, with the aim of improving both primary and secondary education.

Existing educational programs such as Guyana Educational Access Project (GEAP), Ministry of Education, National Centre of Educational Resources Development (NCERD), National Library, and University of Guyana are currently supporting the educational goal for future of Guyana.

Youth Challenge Guyana (YCG) - Founded in 1990, the mission is to facilitate the development of youth and communities in Guyana through meeting the challenges of work, social action and cultural exchange. Also, YCG seeks to offer young people from Guyana an opportunity for personal development in global issues, leadership skills and problem solving experience. YCG encourages the transfer of these new skills and understanding into positive civic action in the home community of each participant.

Help and Shelter Inc, Guyana - Our mission is to change the attitudes to the use of violence in our homes and in the wider society. To contribute to a society where attitudes to use of violence and practices of violence have been transformed; includes sexual, physical and psychological abuse in its definition of violence.

Guyana United Mission of Nassau (GUM) - New York based non-governmental organization which seeks to assist in the provision of health care to the needy of Guyana and other third world countries. The group comprises of medical and non-medical professionals who work in close collaboration with other NGOs and concerned individuals.

A New Day Foundation - Is established to empower and improve the lives of youths in Guyana. Working to achieve this goal through grants that will be awarded to successful recipients based on their academic achievements to encourage students in reaching their desired academic goals.

Amazonia Development Foundation – The goal is to become the leading Developmental Organization in the hemisphere and beyond in five years. This goal will be achieved through the development of intellectual, physical, and civic resources capable of promoting freedom advocacy and further advanced through capacity building and the provision of innovative, poverty alleviating services that result in the holistic development of individuals, groups, communities and nations who, otherwise, would not have had the opportunities to achieve sustained growth.”

Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) – A four year old community based organization that organizes low income South Asian immigrant communities and immigrants facing deportation for social justice and immigrants' rights. Our mission is to organize low-income undocumented and non-citizen immigrants, detainees, families of people facing deportation, and youth with a focus on South Asian immigrants for and end to detention and deportation and immigrant justice.

South Asian Marrow Association of Recruiters (SAMAR) - Our mission is to create an informed society of individuals who would make a conscious decision to be committed donors and be available to donate blood stem cell/ marrow if they match a patient. Serves patients diagnosed with leukemia and other fatal blood disorders from the South Asian community (people from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, East Africa, Guyana, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies) and other minority groups who are in search of Blood Stem Cell /Marrow donors.

CAMBA - Serves American-born local residents, along with immigrants and refugees from Puerto Rico, Haiti, Guyana, other Caribbean countries, the former Soviet Union, Asia and elsewhere. CAMBA has the dual mission of 1)providing low-income people with counseling, educational programs, employment services, health services and information, legal, immigration, and housing assistance, leadership training and youth programs that will enable them to become economically and socially self-sufficient and 2)stabilizing and expanding the economy of Brooklyn by working with local merchants and entrepreneurs and encouraging economic development. CAMBA is committed to providing the highest quality services to all program consumers by developing each individual's strengths and skills, supporting and empowering families, encouraging local businesses and neighborhood groups, and being sensitive to the cultural needs of the entire community.

Wooko Makandie Foundation - Meaning “Living Together in Harmony,” to active involvement in society has organized different training courses, employment projects and educative activities aiming to promote integration and tolerance and to fight discrimination and prejudice.
For Children - An international, non-sectarian, non-profit organization focused on child development via the promotion of children's basic rights. It partners with local non-governmental organizations to make the needs and rights of children which are prime criteria of national development programs and to serve the needs of children in the context of family, community, and country.

Future Watch Environmental Development Education Partners of Toronto - Facilitates communities of diverse people to work together to discover their shared goals, valuing themselves, their social fabric and the environment, thus creating healthy and sustainable societies.

World Teach - A non-profit, non-governmental organization, based at the Harvard Center for International Development, which provides opportunities for individuals to make a meaningful contribution to international education by living and working as volunteer teachers in developing countries.

Peace Villages Foundation - Supports and promotes communities and their members in the process of achieving sustainable development, social justice and peace. We promote the “Culture of Peace” through increased cross-cultural exchange and voluntary community service whereby additional educational and recreational opportunities for an underprivileged young generation are created.

Youth In Development - Our primary purpose and activities are focused on influencing public policy through the promotion and awareness of social issues affecting youth, and making equitable representation to enhance youth development.