Guyana a leader in women, peace and security – US Southern Commander

…GDF Chief of Staff says women now being deployed to border locations

August 31, 2022 --- Source -- https://guyanatimesgy.com/guya...-southern-commander/

United States (US) four-star General Laura Richardson has described Guyana as a leader in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) matters, the theme of the two-day conference being held by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the (US) military that she is presently attending.

General Richardson held a joint press conference with GDF Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess, on the sidelines of the Women, Peace and Security Conference on Tuesday. During the press conference, Richardson lauded Bess and the role he has played in making the GDF a more inclusive space for women.

US four-star General Laura Richardson

“I’d like to say that Brigadier Godfrey Bess is a leader amongst his defence forces, amongst the region with WPS. And just the changes and the policies that are put in place to integrate women into the defence forces, has really been a game changer. And the change agent for that is Brigadier Bess. I’m really, really proud of him.”

She also spoke to the military partnership between Guyana and the US. According to Richardson, integrated deterrence is important to the security of the hemisphere, hence the need for these partnerships.

GDF Chief of Staff, Brig Godfrey Bess

“I look at integrated deterrence as a deterrence, a strong network, everything coming together, all the partnerships, the security forces, the defence forces, non-governmental organisations, industry, the joint force, everybody working together for a free, prosperous western hemisphere. A whole of Government approach for how to tackle these hard problems of today. It takes everybody,” she said.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Bess in responding to questions from the media, described various ways the GDF has improved working conditions for female soldiers. He also revealed that women have started to integrate ranks into border patrols, in Lethem (Region Nine) and Mabaruma (Region One). He explained that they deploy close to a dozen female soldiers at a time, alongside their male soldiers.

“What we do for our female soldiers that are working and are parents, one of the initiatives that we would have included over the year is being able to assist to take care of their children while they are at work,” Bess said.

“There are issues of our female soldiers needing adequate time to be with their families. We’re very family-oriented and we believe in families. And we ensure that our female soldiers are given adequate time to be there for their families, as is necessary.”

Richardson is visiting Guyana ten months after assuming duties as SOUTHCOM’s Commander and nearly five months after meeting with Caribbean defence and public security leaders during the 2022 Caribbean Nations Security Conference in April in Bridgetown, Barbados. During her two-day stay in Georgetown, she has met with US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch and President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali.

Richardson also joined Guyana’s First Lady Arya Ali and Ambassador Lynch in welcoming participants of the Caribbean Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Conference, which Guyana is hosting from August 29-September 1 in partnership with the Florida National Guard.

The United States and Guyana have a longstanding history of security cooperation. The defence partnership between the two countries includes collaboration against regional threats and challenges, capacity-building exercises, bilateral training, expertise exchanges, events fostering the inclusion of women in defence and security missions, and professional development engagements.

SOUTHCOM is one of the Department of Defence’s six geographically focused unified commands with responsibility for security cooperation with defence and public security forces in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.