Jamaica’s ambassador to Japan, Shorna-Kay Richards, has been selected to give the commencement address at the Spring Commencement Ceremony of Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, on May 18.

Additionally, Ambassador Richards will be conferred with a Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa for her work in disarmament and international security.

“I am still in shock and deeply humbled by this recognition at the global level,” Ambassador Richards told the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

“I see this honour as one in a representative capacity
— one that recognises my country and the Jamaican foreign service of which I have been privileged to be a member for the past 30 years,” she said.

Richards, in reflecting on the upcoming award, said she had to give credit to Bishop Gibson High School for Girls and Hampton School for Girls as well as The University of the West Indies (UWI) for the “remarkable educational foundation” they afforded her.

In addition to being Jamaica’s top diplomat in Japan, Richards has concurrent accreditation to Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and New Zealand.

Between 2016 and 2020 Richards served as director for bilateral relations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. She was also Jamaica’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, New York, from 2012 to 2016.

Her other overseas postings include the Jamaican High Commission in South Africa (2009-2012), the Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the Organization of American States in Washington, DC (1998-2001), and the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC (2003-2004).

Richards was appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters in January 2022 and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Disarmament Research Institute. She currently serves as the chair of these two bodies since January 2024.

Ambassador Richards has vast experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. She has worked extensively in supporting the management of Jamaica’s bilateral relations 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 in the field of international security and disarmament. During her assignment to the United Nations, she served as vice-chair of the United Nations Disarmament Commission. She was also a facilitator for the Arms Trade Treaty negotiations and a lead negotiator for the United Nations Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty process. She was also actively involved 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 from The UWI.

She was a United Nations Disarmament Fellow in 2005.