Chad Hunte posted on October 22, 2014 11:15
Jeannine Compton-Antoine, designated Marine Biodiversity Champion by the Biodiversity Unit because she is the first female Chairperson of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that has been in existence since 1989, has been praised for her leadership role as the chairperson of the IWC. She has long represented Saint Lucia as a Commissioner at the IWC and has just completed her two year stint as the IWC chairperson. She was congratulated in a statement by the IWC following its 65th Annual Meeting in Slovenia.
The statement commended the Saint Lucian Commissioner and Chairperson “for her excellent chairmanship” and that “ all parties were pleased with the outcome of the meeting” under her stewardship. Jeannine said that she was “pleased with the constructive dialogue and commitment of the member-governments of the IWC, to reach consensus wherever possible on the issue of whaling.”
Following the end of her two- year term which lasted from 2012-2014, Jeannine has now been elected to another top position in the international organization. She is now the new Chairperson of the IWC’s Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Committee, which governs whaling by special aboriginal populations around the world- Canada, and Greenland to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Jeannine, a former senior officer at the Fisheries Department, who now heads the Soufriere Marine Management Authority (SMMA), is also the Caribbean’s Representative on the international Bureau of the IWC.
Jeannine is one of three sisters who have been made biodiversity champions by the Biodiversity Unit. Chef Nina is recognized as the Agrobiodiversity Champion because of her culinary exploits using local foods while Fiona is hailed as the Floral Biodiversity Champion because of her outstanding fashion designs using the flora of Saint Lucia. The Biodiversity Unit is very proud of Jeanine and wishes her every success in her new appointment.