Government of Guyana Statement On the Occasion of the 60th Anniversary of Guyana’s membership in the United Nations

On this date, 20 September, in the year 1966, during its 21st session, the United Nations General Assembly, by acclamation, admitted Guyana as a Member State of the United Nations. Our young nation affirmed Guyana’s faith in the United Nations, and our hope to be “an active rather than a sleeping member” of the Organization. And indeed, diplomatic activism has been a hallmark of Guyana’s engagement with the United Nations and the international system writ large! We recognized in the United Nations the embodiment of the collective aspirations of the world’s people for a most just, equitable and democratic international order. This recognition was born of our own struggles for self-determination. It was also an acknowledgement that multilateralism and collective action were imperatives to effectively confront the challenges facing our world community.

In the six decades since our admission to the premier international organization, Guyana has engaged actively and constructively in the work of the United Nations, in support of peace and security, development, human rights, and the rule of International Law. Throughout, we have maintained a principled and purposeful approach. From the very beginnings of our tenure Guyana was entrusted with positions of leadership and responsibility, starting with membership to the Council for Namibia tasked with concluding the process of decolonization of that territory. Our country engaged the major causes our our time, the struggles against colonialism and apartheid, for a more just international economic and social order, especially for small states, for disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation.

Moreover, Guyana has championed United Nations initiatives promoting sovereign equality, equal rights, self determination, and people-centred development. We have benefited from the principles of non-intervention and peaceful settlement of disputes. Through strong advocacy and action, we have been a leader in addressing the existential climate crisis. Guyana, through its representatives has served across the spectrum of United Nations organs and activities, including as President of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, on the International Court of Justice, the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Guyana also served on two occasions as Chair of the Group of 77 and China, the principal developing country grouping in the UN.