First ever diplomatic week lecture to be held in St Kitts-Nevis

Nevisian-born Professor Dr. Jessica Byron-Reid, Director of the University of the West Indies Institute of International Relations at the St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad, is the guest lecturer at the inaugural Diplomatic Week Lecture to be held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort Ball Room on Tuesday 9th April 2019 at 7:00 pm.

The Diplomatic Week Lecture comes as a part of the activities for Diplomatic Week 2019 (April 7-12), which is hosted by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the theme “Securing a Resilient Future Through Strategic Diplomacy and Effective Dialogue.”

According to the UWI Institute of International Relations, Professor Byron joined the UWI Institute of International Relations as its Director on August 1, 2016. Professor Byron holds a B.A in French and Spanish from The University of The West Indies, Cavehill and a Post Graduate Diploma in International Relations from the Institute of International Relations, The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine. She has a PhD in International Relations from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales, University of Geneva. She serves on a number of editorial advisory committees including the Small States and Territories Journal and the Caribbean Journal of International Relations and Diplomacy.

Previously she was Professorial Fellow at SALISES Mona (2015 - 2016) and Head of the Department of Government, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica (2010 – 2013). She was also the UWI Coordinator of a tripartite B.Sc./M.Sc. programme in Politics and International Cooperation involving the UWI, Universite Antilles-Guyane and the University of Bordeaux IV. She has served as Visiting Lecturer in the graduate programme on International and Comparative Politics at the Universite Antilles-Guyane and is a member of the CLACSO Working Group on Crisis, Response and Alternatives in the Caribbean. Her research interests include the Caribbean and Latin American regionalism and small states/societies in the global political economy. She was the Caribbean convenor on the Executive Committee of a research and advocacy programme “Building Global Democracy” (www.bgd.org) based at the University of Warwick 2008 - 2012. Academic affiliations include the International Studies Association, the Latin American Studies Association and the Caribbean Studies Association.

Several St. Kitts and Nevis’ diplomats and honorary consuls are in St. Kitts and Nevis for Diplomatic Week 2019. These include H.E. Jasmine Huggins, Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan); H.E. Dr. Kevin Isaac, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom; H.E. Sam Condor, Permanent Representative to the United Nations (New York); H.E. Thelma Phillip-Browne, Ambassador to the United States (Washington, DC); H.E. Dr. Everson Hull, Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS); H.E. Verna Mills, Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba; H.E. Sherry Tross, High Commissioner to Canada (based in Ottawa); H.E. Dr. David Doyle, Permanent Representative to UNESCO (based in Paris, France); Mrs. Sharlene Shillingford-McKlmon, Ambassador to Belgium (representing most of OECS in Brussels, Belgium); and Mr. Justin Hawley, Consul General to the United Arab Emirates (based in Dubai).

Honorary Consuls include Mrs. Fatima Gonul Eken, Honarary Consul in Turkey; Mr. Aykut Mehmet Eken, Honorary Consul in Belgium; Mr. Wilbur Harrigan, Honorary Consul in Antigua and Barbuda; Ms. Tessy Ekpunobi, Honorary Consul in Nigeria; Mr. Harold Marzouka, Honorary Consul in Haiti; Ms. Louise Tannock, Honorary Consul in Bermuda; and Mr. Matteo Forconi, Honorary Consul in Italy.