Dr Leith Dunn named to Commonwealth observer group for Zimbabwe elections
Jamaican sociologist and international development consultant, Dr Leith Dunn, who was named a member of the Commonwealth Observer Group to Zimbabwe’s presidential elections, left the island last week and has begun duties as part of the 40-person international observer team. Dr Dunn is one of two Jamaicans invited by the Commonwealth Secretary-General to monitor the controversial elections to be held from March 9-10 this year. The other Jamaican is William Chin-See, the former chairman of Jamaica’s Electoral Advisory Committee.
Dr Dunn is among a distinguished group of Commonwealth women who are part of the Zimbabwe Observer Delegation. She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and the London School of Economics, where she was awarded her Doctorate in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in 1994.
She has been intensively engaged in international project development and appraisal in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean. She has published and carried out consultancies on issues of international trade, labour, gender, policy development and globalisation for agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Dr Dunn is a part-time lecturer at the UWI, Mona, and served during the 2000-2001 academic year as acting co-ordinator for the Centre for Gender and Development Studies at Mona.
She is married to UWI academic and communications specialist, Dr Hopeton Dunn, and they have a daughter Jessica and a son Jamani.
Dr Leith Dunn arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe, alongside other Commonwealth delegates who will be deployed in small groups throughout the country. Dr Dunn will be on mission in Zimbabwe until the middle of March.
