The Carter Center says the Guyana Government should explore ways to reinvigorate and support the development of a robust and effective civil society.
This is one of the recommendations in the May 14, 2026 report of the Center on its observation of the September 1st General and Regional Elections last year. In recent years, civil society organisations here have been the targets of fierce attacks by PPP/C governments.
In its report, the Atlanta, Georgia, US-based group said that civil society plays a crucial role in a democracy by providing space for citizens to organize, express their interests, and hold governments accountable.
“By representing diverse voices, civil society strengthens democratic institutions and contributes to more inclusive and responsive governance. The Carter Center recommends that the government explore ways to reinvigorate and support development of a robust, effective civil society in Guyana through legislative reform to support and protect nongovernmental organizations”, the report said.
The Center which was headed by the late, former US President Jimmy Carter also suggested the establishment of an independent, nonpartisan foundation for the development of civil society and addressing problems with the access to information regime.
The Center, which played a key role in democratic reforms here in 1990 which led to the restoration of democracy in 1992, noted that the previous PPP/C administration had begun to develop legislation on the regulation of nongovernmental organizations.
“The existing legal and regulatory framework has long been recognized as inadequate for a modern nonprofit sector in a democracy. Early and good faith engagement of civil society in these efforts can build trust to ensure that everyone’s needs and concerns are met, while respecting the critical role that civil society plays in a democracy”, the Center asserted.
Given the decline in international aid that traditionally has supported civil society organizations in the past, the Center’s report said that “parliament could consider using some of Guyana’s newfound oil wealth to endow an independent civil society development foundation. Such a foundation, led by an independent board and modeled on private foundations elsewhere, would combine a mandate for building the capacity of the civic sector broadly and provide grants to civil society activities in pursuit of civic initiatives and partnerships”.
The Center, which has monitored a number of general elections here said that the recommendations it made would help strengthen informed participation in Guyana’s continued democratic development.
According to the report, election day procedures were calm, orderly, and well administered, with no significant irregularities. It found that the revised tabulation process was more transparent and verifiable than in 2020, contributing to greater confidence in the announced results. However, it said that the polarization of GECOM and size of the voters list relative to population estimates available at the time continued to undermine confidence.
“Despite improvements, significant challenges remain, including concerns over GECOM’s independence, the complexity and representativeness of the electoral system, outdated constituency boundaries, weak campaign finance regulation, misuse of state resources magnifying incumbent advantage, unequal media access, limited civil society engagement, and barriers to political participation for marginalized groups”, the report said.
It added that Guyana’s rapid economic transformation presents both opportunity and risk, underscoring the need for inclusive constitutional and electoral reforms to bolster democratic institutions ahead of future elections.
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