Overview:

• There exists no official recognition system for belief systems and religious communities in Guyana.

• Places of worship are the primary means of registration and these all must register with the Deeds Registry which is a form of mandatory registration; informational requirements associated with this application seem appropriate but require monitoring to ensure no misuse takes place; from there, a religious organisation can operate under the name of the place of worship.

• The great deal of unstructure existent within the Guyanese system means that it is classified as ambiguous with receptive elements.

Positive elements:

• Freedom of religion or belief is broadly protected in practice by the government.

• Horizontal recognition is in effect.

Recommendations:

• Establish a distinct recognition system for different forms and levels of religion and belief.

• Remove all forms of unstructured by clarifying unaddressed topics and issues.

• Revoke the rule of mandatory registration of places of worship and disestablish the present system as being oriented on places of worship.

• To be classified as dynamic, a recognition agency would need to be established the manage the recognition system in a way that is independent of the government to ensure no politicisation or manipulation takes place.