Grenada assumes chair of OAS Permanent Council

The Organization of American States (OAS) says Grenada’s Permanent Representative, Yolande Smith, has assumed the chair of the OAS Permanent Council.

The chair of the Permanent Council is held on a rotating basis every 3 months.

On taking the chair last Friday, Smith spoke of the importance of carrying out the council’s actions, based on integrity that must be essential “in the process, in the way we conduct our daily affairs, in the responsibility entrusted to us. At the end of the day, we are representatives of our countries and our symbols, our sovereignty and our statehood must be respected,” the new OAS Permanent Council chair said.

Outgoing chair and permanent representative of the United States, Carlos Trujillo thanked the representatives of the countries for “their help and support over the last 3 months”.

“I thought we had a very successful presidency and, at the same time, a very successful general assembly,” Trujillo said.

In early May, Smith, presented her credentials to US President Donald Trump.

Smith is no stranger to multilateral relations and the international community, with over 25 years in diplomatic service. Her first posting was at the Grenada Consulate General in Toronto, from 1995-1999. From 1999-2008 she was stationed at the Grenada Embassy in Washington, DC.

In March 2009 Smith joined the staff of the Procurement and Strategic Budget Management Division of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where she received both divisional- and fund-wide outstanding achievement awards as part of a team responsible for the IMF Headquarters II becoming LEED Gold-Certified.

She returned to Washington, having completed a 3-and a-half-year assignment as deputy consul general in Miami, Florida.

The OAS said the permanent representative of Canada, Jennifer Loten, will serve as vice-chair of the council for the next 3 months. -(CMC)