Amerindian Peoples’ Association (APA)
The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) is a non-governmental Indigenous Peoples organization in Guyana. Membership of the APA is made up of Units throughout the country, currently amounting to close to eighty such units. The Association is led by an Executive Committee comprising the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer, eleven regional representatives, a women’s representative and a youth representative.
Goals and Objectives
The objectives of the APA are to promote the social, economic, political and cultural development of Amerindian communities in solidarity with each other and to promote and defend their rights.
The long term goal of the APA is to secure legislative and policy changes to protect indigenous rights in all instances, to promote representation of indigenous peoples by indigenous peoples themselves, to provide information to indigenous communities about their rights under national and international law, to promote the sustainable use of the natural resources by indigenous peoples and to ensure the protection of the environment, to secure participation in development activities and decision making processes that affect the lives of the indigenous peoples of Guyana, and to ensure that the state fulfill its obligations in providing basic services to indigenous communities such as health, education, transportation and communication.