New High Commissioners-designates Appointed

Canada

Mrs. Janice Miller, currently serving as Under Secretary for Multilateral Affairs in the Ministry, has been appointed as High Commissioner–designate to Canada. She succeeds High Commissioner Sheila Sealy Monteith who served as High Commissioner for Jamaica to Canada since 2010 and who will be returning to a senior position in the Ministry.

Mrs. Miller is a career diplomat with over 17 years experience in the Jamaican Foreign Service. She is one of the Deputy Permanent Representatives for the Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the International Seabed Authority and serves on the Board of Directors of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica and the Jamaica National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Prior to assuming responsibilities as Under Secretary for Multilateral Affairs, Mrs. Miller was Director of the Economic Affairs Department of the Ministry.  She has served as Counsellor (Political Affairs) at the Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the United Nations in New York and worked briefly as a regional civil servant, starting her career at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.

Mrs. Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in History, French and Politics from the University of the West Indies, Mona and a Masters of Philosophy degree in International Relations from the UWI, St. Augustine. The High Commissioner-designate pursued the Foreign Service Programme at Oxford University on a Chevening Scholarship and has received training in Public Administration and Policy Analysis and Strategic Planning, through the University of Peking, Beijing and Carleton University, Ottawa respectively.

She is married to Donald Miller and they have two daughters, Rachel and Rianna.

The High Commissioner-designate is expected to assume duties in Ottawa by mid-October 2014.

South Africa

The High Commissioner-designate, Ms. Cheryl Spencer, is currently the Senior Director for the Foreign Trade Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade with responsibility for Trade Policy, Trade Related Issues and Technical leadership and coordination of Jamaica’s positions in Trade Negotiations. She replaces High Commissioner Norma Taylor Roberts whose tour of duty came to an end earlier this year and who has proceeded on retirement.

Ms. Spencer’s education and training background is in international relations and trade, and includes a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in International Relations from the University of the West Indies (Mona) and Certificates in Trade Policy and Trade Negotiating Techniques and Skills from the World Trade Organization. Her broad-based experience and skills have also been bolstered by extensive training provided by the Andres Bello Diplomatic Academy of Chile, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

A career diplomat, Ms. Spencer has 24 years experience in international relations and diplomacy at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. Proficient in both French and Spanish, she has previously served as First Secretary at the Embassy of Jamaica in Brussels, Belgium, Deputy High Commissioner in the Jamaican High Commission in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and Deputy Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies in Geneva, Switzerland. While in Port-of-Spain, she served as Acting High Commissioner from August 1998 to April 1999. In Geneva, she undertook significant representational duties, providing technical leadership to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group while Jamaica served as Coordinator for over two years.

Ms. Spencer currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC).

Trinidad and Tobago

Mr. David Prendergast currently serves as Head, Trade Agreements Implementation Coordination Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and has responsibility for overseeing the implementation of Jamaica’s obligations under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in relation to the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).  He will succeed Her Excellency Sharon Saunders who has served as High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago since 2009 and who is being reassigned to a senior position in Kingston.

Mr. Prendergast joined the Foreign Service in 1990 and has served as Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the United Nations in New York; Counsellor/Alternate Representative during Jamaica’s tenure on the UN Security Council; Minister/Counsellor in the Jamaican Embassy in Belgium and Mission to the European Union; and as Assistant Director,  Foreign Trade in the Ministry.  Mr. Prendergast has also served as United Nations Coordination Officer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kingston and as Assistant to the Director of Tourism at the Jamaica Tourist Board.

A career diplomat, Mr. Prendergast holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in International Relations from the University of the West Indies and a Master of Arts in International Relations and Strategic Studies from the Lancaster University in the United Kingdom where he was a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Scholar.  Mr. Prendergast was an Edward S. Mason Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School from 2012-2013 where he received a Masters in Public Administration and a Certificate in Public Policy and Management.

The High Commissioner-designate brings to the post a wealth of experience in bilateral, regional and multilateral diplomacy and has benefitted from participation in various training courses at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the United States Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) and the Andres Bello Diplomatic Academy in Chile.

Mr. Prendergast is married to Angella and they have one son, Joseph.

The High Commissioner-designate will assume duties in Port of Spain at end of 2014.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade thanks the outgoing High Commissioners for their service and is confident that the new High Commissioners-designate will continue Jamaica’s tradition of excellent diplomatic representation in Canada, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago.