Guyana

For much of the 1990s, Guyana was a stable country that enjoyed high economic growth and declining poverty. But this progress was built on weak democratic foundations, a fragile economic base, and underlying ethnic tensions between the Afro- and Indo-Guyanese communities.  

President Carter led the first election observation mission to Guyana in 1992, for what were deemed the first credible elections in 28 years. 

Additional observation teams, of various sizes, were deployed in 2001, 2006, 2015, 2020, and 2025.   

The election in 2015 marked the Carter Center’s 100th election observation mission and was the last led by President Carter. 

More information about all of these elections is available in our publications section.

Consolidating Democracy

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, The Carter Center worked alongside partners to improve the rule of law and approach to regulations, increase capacity to solve disputes, sustain capacity to conduct free and fair elections, increase influence by civil society, and strengthen local governance. 

We also hosted a symposium on constitutional reform in Guyana in 2017. 

Strengthening Civil Society

Our Democracy Program helped Guyanese nongovernmental organizations increase their advocacy, consensus-building, and analytical capacities to improve the status of women, youth, and Amerindians. 

Reinforcing Rule of Law

We worked closely on judicial system reform in Guyana with the High Court, the chief justice, the Guyana Bar Association, and the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers. 

We supported efforts to develop a code of conduct for the judiciary and supported the establishment of a Criminal Law Review Committee in 2002. 

After the 1992 election, the government of Guyana invited the Center’s Global Development Initiative (1993-2006) to assist in formulating a comprehensive vision and development strategy to gain the support of the international donor community.  

Representatives from newly emerging democracies like Guyana explored ways to enhance international trade, aid, agriculture, and other policies for development at the initiative’s first Development Cooperation Forum, which was then followed by a country-specific conference. 

Impacts:

• Presented a policy framework that led to an additional $320 million in aid over three years
• Drafted its National Development Strategy for social and economic growth

The country’s young democracy experienced a setback in 1997, amid heightened ethnic tensions and rejected election results. With support from the Center, the government sought to broaden the base of political support with a revised National Development Strategy in 2000. 

Guyana’s economic trajectory skyrocketed after the discovery of offshore oil in 2015.

From 2016 to 2017, The Carter Center supported Guyana in its bid to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, or EITI, a global standard to ensure open and accountable management of oil, gas, and mineral resources so that citizens of a country benefit from its natural resources.