Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa takes up post on April 1
Published:Monday | March 27, 2023 | 7:03 PM
Joan Thomas Edwards takes up her post as Jamaica's new High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa on April 1.
She will have jurisdiction for Jamaica's relations with 18 countries in the Southern and East African regions.
High Commissioner-designate Thomas Edwards is a career diplomat and a member of the Jamaican Foreign Service for over 33 years.
She is currently the Under-Secretary with responsibility for the Foreign Trade Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
“As an experienced diplomat, Mrs Thomas Edwards has acquired expertise in the areas of foreign trade, multilateral, bilateral, and regional affairs. I am confident that she will use the opportunity of this new assignment to strengthen the bonds of friendship and cooperation between Jamaica and the Republic of South Africa, as well as the rest of the Southern and East African regions,” said portfolio minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.
Thomas Edwards served as Deputy High Commissioner at the Jamaican High Commission in London, Acting High Commissioner at the Jamaican High Commission in Pretoria, Counsellor/Alternate Representative to the United Nations, New York, and concurrently to the United Nations Security Council, and First Secretary/Consul at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, DC.
She has also participated in short term assignments with the United Nations Mission to Angola as a Human Rights Officer, and the Financial Intelligence Unit for Belize, Central America, as Senior Legal Officer.
Thomas Edwards holds a master's degree in public policy from American University in Washington, DC, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the West Indies.
She was called to the Bar in Jamaica and Belize.
A past student of Excelsior High School, Kingston, Thomas Edwards is married with three children.
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