Ambassador Audrey Waddell back to manage Foreign Ministry

Ambassador Audrey Waddell, who was sent on leave and removed from her post as Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the APNU+AFC government, has been effectively reinstated to her post.

The post of Director General was replaced by APNU+AFC in December 2019 to that of Permanent Secretary.

Waddell was replaced by Ambassador Charlene Phoenix, who was appointed Permanent Secretary. The government then had promised that Ambassador Waddell would receive a diplomatic post but that was never realized.

Now, the News Room has confirmed that Waddell is returning to the Ministry as Permanent Secretary.

Waddell joined the Foreign Service in 1985, and served both home and on overseas assignments.
She was previously attached to the Embassy of Guyana in Caracas as First Secretary and also served in the same capacity in Brasilia.

Years later, she was assigned Director of the Department of the Americas and Asia, and served in that position until she was posted to the Embassy of Guyana in Havana, Cuba, as Minister/Counsellor and Head of Chancery.

Upon her return to Guyana, she served as Head to the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Pro Tempore Secretariat, established at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during Guyana’s Chairmanship. In 2012, she was appointed as Ambassador to UNASUR.

Waddell holds a Bachelor’s in Sociology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Development Studies from the University, in addition to completing post-graduate studies in Development Diplomacy in Berlin with the German Foundation for Development and Cooperation (Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit) and in Language and Diplomacy, University of Malta.

Ambassador Phoenix will continue in her substantive role as Guyana’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a position she has held since November 2017.