Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tribute to Ambassador Lucille Mathurin Mair

A former distinguished an internationally acclaimed Jamaican Diplomat Ambassador Lucille Mathurin Mair,C.D. O.J., died this morning in Kingston. She was in her 85th year and had been ailing for some time.
Paying tribute to Ambassador Mair, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and ForeignTrade, Hon. Dr. Kenneth Baugh praised Ambassador Mair for her distinguished career to the field of diplomacy and International relations.
He singled out particularly the immense contribution she made highlighted by her work with the United Nations where she held a number of posts including that of Secretary-General of the World Conference of the United Nations Declaration for Women held in 1980 in Copenhagen and from 1981- 1982 when she was special Advisor to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Women’s Development at the Assistant Secretary -General level.
It was hardly surprising given her illustrious work when she was appointed Under-Secretary-General in 1982, becoming the first woman to be appointed at that level in the United Nations, an appointment which coincided with the period when she served as Secretary-General of the United Nations International Conference on the Question of Palestine, Dr. Baugh noted.
Dr. Baugh also underscored the role she played as a member of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, among a number of other International Conferences devoted to the advancement of women’s rights globally for which Ambassador Mair was a tireless advocate.
“I have also been advised of her outstanding work at our Ministry of Foreign Affairs when she was a Senator and Minister of State, Ambassador to Cuba, and also Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York .
” Her passing is a sad loss to the international community, Jamaica, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its fraternity, indeed to all organizations and persons who were the beneficiaries of her contribution.”
She is survived by her daughter Ambassador Gail Mathurin who is the Permanent Secretary in the Foreign Ministry and sons, Messrs. David and Adrian Mathurin.