By: Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News |
The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has issued a sobering message on International Human Rights Day 2025, cautioning that human rights—both globally and in Guyana—are being overshadowed by society’s growing fixation on wealth and material success.
In a pointed statement, the Association noted that much of the country’s advancement in areas such as children’s rights, gender equality, protections for LGBT persons, anti-trafficking measures, and even steps toward abolishing the death penalty did not emerge from local conviction. Instead, the GHRA argues, these gains were primarily driven by external pressure and financial incentives linked to international development assistance.
But with Western nations retreating from their historic role as defenders of global human rights, the GHRA is now questioning where Guyana will find the moral compass necessary to uphold a genuine rights-based culture.
According to the Association, Guyanese society is increasingly defining success in terms of accumulating wealth, pushing aside values such as dignity, fairness, equal opportunity, education, community service, and respect for others.
The GHRA warns that the consequences are already visible. It says unequal access to jobs, contracts, scholarships, pensions, house lots, and public appointments has deepened exploitation and entrenched discriminatory practices.
The organisation also condemned what it called a disturbing double standard: while major corruption scandals provoke public outrage, everyday misconduct—including bribery, harassment of women, and retaliatory transfers of public servants—has become widely accepted as usual.
Furthermore, the GHRA argues that widespread violence against women and children should not be viewed in isolation but as symptoms of a broader social breakdown rooted in greed, entitlement, and the erosion of shared values.
With global pressure weakening, the Association says Guyanese civil society must now take greater responsibility for safeguarding rights and demanding integrity. Too many, it warns, oppose corruption only until they personally stand to benefit.
The GHRA concluded that Guyana’s future will not be determined by the number of human rights treaties it ratifies, but by whether human rights meaningfully shape daily life, public policy, and the national culture.
