Three of Jamaica’s long-serving career foreign service officers have been assigned new diplomatic responsibilities in a move to strengthen relations globally to further advance national development goals, according to the foreign ministry.

The appointments were announced by Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, who said her ministry will leverage Jamaica’s strong relationship with global partners to support the island’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic “and sustain the positive trajectory for growth and development”.

The three foreign service officers are Shorna-Kay Richards, who is now the ambassador-designate to Japan; Ambassador Sharon Miller, high commissioner-designate to Canada; and Lincoln Downer, consul general to Toronto.

Richards is a career diplomat who has been a member of the foreign service for over 25 years and is presently the director of the Bilateral Relations Department in the ministry. She was previously assigned as Jamaica’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) and also served at the Jamaican Embassy and the Permanent Mission to the Organizaton of American States in Washington, DC as well as at the Jamaican High Commission in Pretoria.

Richards has vast expertise in bilateral and multilateral affairs and has supported efforts to secure increased access to official development assistance, technical cooperation, human resource development, and trade and investment opportunities.

At the multilateral level, she has worked extensively in the field of international security and disarmament, having served as vice-chair of the UN Disarmament Commission and was also a facilitator for the Arms Trade Treaty negotiations.

She has served as lead negotiator in the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty process and was also actively engaged in negotiations on oceans and the Law of the Sea.

Richards holds a master’s degree in international policy and practice from Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA. She also obtained a bachelor of arts degree from The University of the West Indies and is a past student of Bishop Gibson High and Hampton High schools.

Richards is expected to assume duties in September 2020. Her jurisdiction will include several other countries in Asia.

Ambassador Miller’s career in the Jamaican Foreign Service spans over three and a half decades, during which time she has garnered a wealth of experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.

She was appointed in 2018 as Jamaica’s ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil, with accreditation to four other South American countries.

Ambassador Miller held the post of director in the Economic Affairs Department of the ministry immediately prior to her assumption of duties in Brasilia. In previous overseas assignments, she served as chargé d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC and deputy high commissioner at the Jamaican High Commission in Ottawa.

Ambassador Miller has also represented Jamaica at multiple regional and international fora, including the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee, and more recently served as head of delegation at the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation in 2019.

Ambassador Miller holds a Bachelor of Science degree in public administration and has undertaken graduate work in development studies.

She is expected to assume duty in Ottawa in September 2020.

Downer has been a member of the foreign service for 25 years. He has served in various capacities overseas and locally, including assistant director in the then Diaspora and Consular Affairs Department from 2005 to 2008 and again from 2013 to 2017. He was subsequently appointed director in the Diaspora Affairs Department in 2017.

He has a proven track record in areas such as strategic diaspora engagement, consular diplomacy, foreign service management, citizenship and immigration policy. He has contributed to and written literature on the ‘Role of Diasporas in Development Policy’ and ‘Comparative Analysis of the Jamaica and Kenya Diaspora Policies’.

Downer also counts communication, human resource development and strategic planning for organisational development among his many areas of expertise.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in international relations from The University of the West Indies and has received a wide array of professional training in consular and diaspora diplomacy.

The new consul general is expected to assume duty in Toronto in August 2020.

Minister Johnson Smith expressed confidence that the three foreign service experts will represent Jamaica with distinction. “They are all consummate professionals, with broad experience in their respective areas, and will help drive an effective and strategic foreign policy in support of Jamaica’s economic recovery and growth beyond COVID-19,” she is quoted in a news release from her ministry.