Dear Editor,
I would like to bring this matter to the attention of the United Nations (UN), the international community and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). While reading a publication of a Department of Public Information article published on June 12, 2026, and titled ‘Guyana nominates Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett for UN Secretary General – President Ali announces’, it occurred to me that something is happening in international organisations and the government of Guyana which seems to be highly discriminatory, prejudicial and hypocritical, as it relates to employment of people who are associated with politics and more specifically, people who are associated with the Opposition or are perceived to be associated with Guyana’s Opposition. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government, particularly, from 2020, has not been supporting the employment in international organisations of many Guyanese professionals who are associated with politics, or rather, who are associated with Opposition politics. This is a blatant violation of Article 23 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Article 23 (1) states that ‘Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment’. Article (2) states that ‘Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work’. Article 6 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights indicates that ‘The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right’.
Now, I support Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett’s nomination, one hundred percent, for UN Secretary General. I would be very proud if the Ambassador was chosen as the next UN Secretary General. She is an intelligent and hard-working professional Guyanese and Caribbean woman, who is professional enough, like many of us, to make a clear distinction between ‘her politics’ and being professional. Who is also professional enough, like many of us, to represent her country and other countries, Guyanese and other global citizens in a neutral organization such as the United Nations. However, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is also a politician. She has held several political offices in various PPP/C administrations, as a politician! However, her experience in politics and government is among the key qualifications and makes her a competitive candidate for the position of United Nations Secretary General. Where I take issue, however, is with the PPP/C government’s hypocritical, prejudiced and discriminatory approach to not providing that same support to Guyanese who are associated with Opposition politics or who are perceived to be associated with Opposition politics. The government’s double standard where being involved in politics is a positive for the PPP/C, but a negative or a death knell, literally, for people associated with the Opposition.
There were incidents where international organisations would have already signed contracts with Guyanese professionals, experts, specialists and the government would have informed those organisations that the government would not work with or was not inclined to work with those persons because they were associated with the Opposition or perceived to be associated with the Opposition.
This is where the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is required to play a more active role in Guyana, generally, and as it relates to employment for Guyanese associated with Opposition politics or perceived to be associated with Opposition politics. Some international organizations, since 2020, seem to have determined that the risks of recruiting and employing Guyanese associated with the Opposition, may result in a number of responses from the government; one of which could be the quiet withdrawal or reduce government involvement with the organisations, or in the particular areas where these persons work, and then later revive or increase the government’s involvement when these ‘perceived’ political opponents either lose their jobs, their contracts are cancelled, etc.
This is also about economics, if a political party is in government for thirty years, it means that someone like Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett would have held ministerial positions at various periods, other significant government positions, then moved on to significant positions in international organisations. Some positions in international organisations require the support of the Guyana government, in those cases, that support is guaranteed. Thirty years of unwavering government support. This translates to bills being paid on time; mortgages being paid on time; school and university fees being paid on time; vacation, health and wellbeing taken care of for thirty years every time, on time; even being able to buy a simple thing like fruits, regularly, is guaranteed.
The issue here is not that Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett is or was a politician, the current United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, was the Prime Minister of Portugal; the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus was the Minister of Health and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia; the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Okonjo-Iweala, was the Finance Minister in Nigeria; and the current Secretary General of the Commonwealth, was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in Ghana; the issue is the discriminatory, prejudiced and hypocritical approach of the PPP/C government, and the violation of Article 23 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which provides everyone (including Guyanese associated with the Opposition or perceived to be associated with the Opposition) to the opportunity to gain their living by work which they freely chooses or accepts. We call on the ILO to protect and safeguard this right to work which they freely choose, for Guyanese associated with the Opposition or perceived to be associated with the Opposition. Article 149A of the Guyana Constitution states that ‘No person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his or her right to work, that is to say, the right to free choice of employment. Citizens of Guyana have a right and freedom to participate in the democratic processes. Article 149D (1) of the Constitution indicates that ‘The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal protection and benefit of the law’.
I guess some smart people will say, well it was the same when the People’s National Congress (PNC) was in government for twenty-eight years, the PNC people benefited similarly. However, the challenge with that perspective is that twenty-eight years plus thirty years is fifty-eight years, that’s a lifetime of few Guyanese who were guaranteed paying their bills ON TIME. It means that the system is not necessary based on character, integrity and ethics, but rather it is based heavily on authority; on who is in authority or in government.
It was refreshing to read aspects of the Carter Center’s Final Report on the 2025 General and Regional Elections. Particularly, the aspects on the challenges of the winner-takes-all model in Guyana’s politically and ethnically polarizing context, a system that lacks inclusive representation, etc. The winner-takes-all governance model in Guyana must change for basic rights to be upheld, such as the right of every Guyanese citizen to decent work and to work which they freely choose.
Sincerely,
Citizen Audreyanna Thomas
Advisor – Rule of Law
Masters of Jurisprudence – Rule of Law for Development
