THERE can be no single column, such as this, which captures the full extent of the successes and triumphs of the women of Guyana. Therefore what follows is a mere sampling from select spheres of life.

Guyana, of course, stands tall as one of four Commonwealth Caribbean countries – Dominica, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago being the others to have had a female head of government. Mrs. Janet Jagan served as President from 1997 to 1999 following the death of her husband Dr. Cheddi Jagan. As a formality to being elevated to the Presidency, she was sworn in as Prime Minister and served in that capacity for two days. Therefore, technically, Guyana has also had a female Prime Minister, though not an elected one.

Mrs. Jagan’s storied and decorated political career is well known.

THE ILLUSTRIOUS MADAM JUSTICE BERNARD
The trailblazing and most distinguished Madam Justice Desiree Bernard’s career in the judiciary is not as prominent in the public consciousness, yet her achievements are no less comparable. In 2001 Madam Justice Bernard was appointed Guyana’s and the Commonwealth Caribbean’s first female Chancellor. Subsequently, in 2005 she was appointed as the first female judge on the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Prior to these crowning achievements, in 1980, the ‘lady of firsts’ was appointed the first female High Court Judge of the Supreme Court of Guyana. She was also the first female Justice of Appeal and the first female Chief Justice in Guyana and the Commonwealth Caribbean. Simply put, her career has been singular and the most illustrious of any woman in the judiciary in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Without equal, Madam Justice Bernard is not only a national treasure but the standard bearer for women in the judiciary in Guyana and the Commonwealth Caribbean. There are other distinguished ladies of law who are following in her celebrated footsteps.

Recently, Chief Justice (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards was promoted to acting Chancellor by President David Granger, while Madam Justice Roxanne George SC was appointed acting Chief Justice. There are three Guyanese women Senior Counsel – George, Claudette Singh SC and Rosalie Robertson SC. All three having been recently appointed by President Granger.

Beyond our shores, Guyanese Madam Justice Minnet Hafiz-Bertram is a Supreme Court judge in Belize having been appointed in 2006 while Mrs. Jacqueline Graham is Registrar and Marshall of the CCJ. Lady Anande Trotman-Joseph is the President of the Grenada Bar Association and a former Solicitor General of Grenada.

The President of the Guyana Bar Association is Gem Sanford-Johnson.

WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT
Guyana has more women Ministers of Government than any other Commonwealth Caribbean country and also more than at any time in our history. There are 1o women Ministers of Government – Volda Lawrence (Public Health), Amna Ally (Social Protection) and Cathy Hughes (Public Telecommunications), Valerie Patterson (Department of Housing), Dr. Karen Cummings (Public Health), Nicolette Henry (Department of Culture, Youth and Sport), Valerie Garrido-Lowe (Indigenous People’s Affairs), Annette Ferguson (Public Infrastructure), Simona Broomes (Natural Resources) and Dawn Hastings-Williams (Communities).

The previous PPP government had five female ministers – Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Priya Manickchand, Pauline Sukhai, Jennifer Westford and Jennifer Webster.

Five is also the number of female members of Jamaica’s 23 member Cabinet while in Trinidad and Tobago, seven of Dr. Keith Rowley’s 24 member Cabinet are women. There is only one woman in the Antigua and Barbuda Cabinet, while St Lucia has 4 (of 16) and there are no women in the eight-member St Kitts Cabinet. There are 15 Cabinet members in Barbados, 2 are women.

Returning home, the Ministry of Finance’s Budget Director is Sonya Roopnauth and there are several female Permanent Secretaries. Women head eight of Guyana’s diplomatic missions – Clarissa Riehl (Ottawa), Cheryl Miles (Caracas), Barbara Atherly (New York), Shirley Melville (Boa Vista), Cita Pilgrim (Barbados), Marissa Carmichael-Edwards (Roraima), Candida Daniels (Toronto) and Esther Griffith (Nickerie).

Five of Georgetown’s mayors have been women – Dorothy Bailey (1967), Beryl Simon (1972-1974), Mavis Benn (1981-1985), Lucille Cox-David (1986) and Patricia Chase-Green (2016 to present).

WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT
The chief whips on both the government and opposition sides in the National Assembly are women – Amna Ally for the Coalition Government and Gail Teixeira for the Opposition. Twenty-two (22) of Guyana’s 65 Members of Parliament are women. That represents 34% of the House being female.

By comparison, in Barbados five of their 30 MPs (16%) are women. Next door, in Trinidad and Tobago 12 of their 42 MPs (28%) are women. Only 17% of Jamaica’s Members of Parliament are women (11 of 63).

WOMEN IN SPORTS
Squash star Nicolette Fernandes is a seven-time Sportswoman of the Year, Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’neil is Guyana’s first female world boxing champion. June Griffith, Mariam Burnette and Aliann Pompey have distinguished themselves on the track, while Tremayne Smartt and Shemaine Campbelle are World Cup winning West Indies women cricketers.

WOMEN IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR
In the still male-dominated private sector women are carving out space and excelling. Coleen Patterson is the Country Director of Jamaica-headquartered Grace Kennedy Remittance Services, Patricia Bacchus is the Chief Executive Officer of Caribbean Containers Limited and Chair of the GO-Invest Board. Celebrated conservationist, Annette Arjoon-Martins is an aviation executive, while Beverly Harper recently handed over the Ansa McAl leadership reigns and is reported to soon take up a new high level role in the company.

WOMEN IN MEDIA
Anna Benjamin is Sunday Editor and Cheryl Springer, Editor at Stabroek News. Sharda Lall is Editor-in-Chief acting at the National Communications Network, while Moshamie Ramotar is General Manager acting at Guyana National Newspapers Limited. Tusika Martin is editor at Guyana Times. Gwen Evelyn is a former Editor-in-Chief at Kaieteur News and is now editor at the Chronicle newspaper in Dominica.

There are some areas in which Guyanese women have to catch up however. Of eight Speakers of the National Assembly, 10 Guyana Defence Force Chiefs-of-Staff and 11 Commissioners of Police there have been no women. And neither has there been a female Attorney General. Riehl and the late Debbie Backer have however served as Deputy Speakers.