The Jamaican government, through the minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, announced the appointment of four new heads of missions. The appointments include two career diplomats in the country’s foreign affairs ministry and two politicians.
While making the announcement in the country’s capital, Kingston, Senator Johnson Smith said that he was pleased to make public the names of the new ambassador designate.
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According to her, Mrs. Marsha Coore-Lobban was appointed Jamaica’s High Commissioner to Canada; Dr. Richard Brown was appointed to lead Jamaica’s permanent mission to the United Nations and its specialized agencies; His Excellency, Arthur Williams, will resume as the country’s ambassador to the People’s Republic of China; and Mrs. Natalie Campbell-Rodriques was appointed High Commissioner to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
In her closing statement, Johnson Smith said, “I have full confidence in the new appointees to continue to deepen the engagements and relationships that Jamaica fosters at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. I extend my best wishes and assurance that they carry the full support of my ministry in the conduct of their new responsibilities.”
The two appointed career diplomats—Coore-Lobban and Dr. Brown—have a long history in the Jamaica Foreign Service. Mrs. Coore-Lobban, a master’s degree graduate of International Relations, has over 26 years of experience in the Foreign Service. Before her appointment, she was the acting undersecretary for diaspora, consular, and protocol affairs. She has also served in different capacities, including deputy consul general in Miami, U.S., charge d’affaires at the Jamaica embassy in Brazil, and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Washington, DC.
Dr. Brown has over 19 years of experience in diplomacy, with a specialty in international trade, which includes bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade. Before his new appointment was ratified and made public, he was the acting undersecretary for the Foreign Trade Division of the Jamaican Foreign Affairs Ministry.
He has been active in diplomatic service, having worked in various top offices, including as the director for the Caricom Single Market and sectoral programs at the Caricom Secretariat. He has also worked in the positions of international trade specialist and director of trade at the then Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, and Fisheries. Dr. Brown holds a PhD in international economics from the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.
Before His Excellency Williams was appointed as Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and he was Jamaica’s representative to the Inter-American Development Bank. His new designation is special as it is non-resident but offers the capacity to act as the high commissioner, ambassador, or consul general. His new role was designed to cover more than three countries in the Caribbean. He is a lawyer, a former senator in Jamaica, and an ex-cabinet minister.
Campbell-Rodriques was one of the highest-ranking female politicians in Jamaica, having contested and won election into the country’s Senate. She left Jamaica for Rwanda in Africa. While in Rwanda, she floated one of the country’s thriving real estate companies. She also consulted for some NGO’s in Rwanda whose campaigns revolved around developmental issues, including gender issues as they affect male and female youth demography. On her return from Rwanda, she served as the senior advisor to the minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade.
More so, she has worked in the diplomatic circle, most recently as the community relations and diaspora development attaché at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, DC. Campbell-Rodriques attended George Washington University, where she earned a master’s degree in organizational science.
