Guyana

January 2017: Advocacy meeting with GVA mission. They are a new mission, and were very happy to be asked for a meeting. They’re still setting up their office, and asked for two weeks before they’d be properly up and running. But she said that the issue resonated with her because she was personally interested in children and armed conflict issues, and she couldn’t imagine any reason why it wouldn’t be something they could support.

October 2017: Aurélie and Anna met with Ms. Ally, the representative of the mission in GVA. She was very supportive and in light of the work Guyana has been doing to enhance child protection, including through engagement with the Human Rights Council, we believe that Guyana could play a leadership role on this issue of the SSD in the Caribbean region. She suggested to hold a briefing during Guyana’s chairmanship of the Caribbean Group, and we will follow up with her on this matter early next year.

April 2018: GCPEA and Save the Children Geneva met with the Ambassador in Geneva who said he wanted to convince his government to sign, and to then encourage fellow members of CARICOM, the African Group, and the Commonwealth.

July 2018: Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).

December 2019: GCPEA had sent meeting requests to PM in NY adressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Education to discuss the SSD. The Mission forwarded the letters to capital.

July 2022: GCPEA met with the Counsellor at the New York Mission. The Counsellor was well prepared, she read the Education under Attack 2022 executive summary, and she was aware of the SSD and the level of endorsement. She heard about the SSD for last year when Argentina did an outreach to GRULAC countries ahead of the Abuja conference. She wanted to know more about the development process of the SSD, why certain states have not endorsed, what are the obligations of states that have already joined as well as the available support for implementation. As Guyana is running for the Security Council, GCPEA highlighted that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Mexico had endorsed during their tenure at the Security Council, and how they can promote the SSD and this agenda at the Security Council (e.g., Niger and their contributions with the PRST and the UN SC Res 2601). She said that CAAC would be a priority for them if they got elected. They had been looking at SSD endorsement for a while. She was interested in opportunities for them to announce their support and be publicly recognised for it. Overall, a very productive and positive call.

October 2022: On 25 October, we met in person with Ms. Neishanta Benn, Counsellor at the NY mission. We had previously meet with her virtually (July 2022) therefore she was well briefed on the issue. She explained that she had followed up with her capital in July, and since then asked for an update on endorsement. Apparently, there are no concerns or questions, it is simply due to limited capacity making it hard to prioritise in capital. At the moment, they are focusing on the UNSC campaign. However, she explained that next year they have plans to assess international initiatives they would like to join, and this will be the opportunity to emphasize endorsement of SSD. She asked about the level of support within CARICOM. She explained that GCPEA should brief the CARICOM MFAs, which meet annually. This is something that might be more easily organised once Guyana joins.

November 2022: Endorsed the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA) on 18 November during an International Conference hosted by Ireland, the leader and penholder behind the Declaration.

November 2022: Following Colombia’s endorsement to the SSD, GCPEA convinced and supported the Permanent Mission of Argentina in Geneva to send a Note Verbale to the remaining GRULAC non-endorsing states: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela – encouraging them to endorse the SSD.

May 2023: On 26 May, Apolline met with Mr. Colin Junior Luckie, Second Secretary, at the Geneva mission. After endorsing the Declaration, Guyana also joined the Core Group in Geneva, and designated Colin as the focal point. I met with him to introduce myself, the Coalition, and explain what the Core Group does in Geneva and how Guyana can support advancing protecting education in the Geneva mechanisms. We discussed upcoming opportunities, namely the upcoming HRC session during which the resolution on the right to education will be discussed, as well as the International Day to Protect Education from Attack. We discussed the idea of Guyana doing some peer-to-peer advocacy with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) groups. Overall, a positive meeting. Guyana seems eager to support and participate in the Core Group.