NASSAU, Bahamas, November 11, 2021 — Director-General of The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Sharon Brennen-Haylock, has been elected by acclamation to serve on the United Nations’ Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) for the term 2022-2024.
This was announced by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a Bahamas Information Services (BIS) release published on Facebook on Thursday, November 11, 2021.
“The election took place at UN Headquarters in New York on 9 November 2021, during the ongoing (76th) Seventy-sixth General Assembly Session,” the BIS release noted. “This is the first time a Bahamian national will serve on this prestigious Committee, and the first time a female from the CARICOM region will serve,” the release continued. “It presents a strategic opportunity for The Bahamas. Other CARICOM nationals from Antigua and Barbuda (whom she succeeds), Jamaica and Barbados have served. This is one of many steps to increase Bahamian and CARICOM Member-States representation within the United Nations, to serve on high-level committees and subsidiary organs.”
The release added: “The ACABQ plays a critical role in the functioning of the United Nations. It is an expert subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly composed of twenty-one members elected for a 3-year period, based on a broad geographical representation. The Committee examines every aspect of the work of the United Nations and provides its advice to the General Assembly and other relevant legislative bodies.”
The release said that the “successful appointment of Ambassador Brennen-Haylock resulted from the work of the dedicated team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs/International Relations Division and the Permanent Mission of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to the United Nations.
“The Ministry congratulates Ambassador Brennen-Haylock on her election and wishes her all the best in this important international endeavour.”
Ambassador Brennen-Haylock has more than 30 years of experience in diplomacy, international affairs, economic and social development, gender and management, with a brief period in the banking sector, which laid the groundwork for her keen appreciation of financial matters and fiscal discipline. During her lengthy career in the Bahamas Public and Foreign Services, her leadership skills and understanding of economic, social and sustainable development issues were well recognized. She is well-versed in international negotiations, the intergovernmental process, conflict resolution, team building, management and administration.
Ambassador Brennen-Haylock is the recipient of the Paul L. Adderley Award for excellence in the Foreign Service, conferred by the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
She is well versed in matters related to the United Nations (UN) System and other international organizations and processes, and has participated in numerous of their meetings such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the Bretton Woods Institutions, the Summit of the Americas process, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Commonwealth and the European Union/African, Caribbean and Pacific (EU/ACP).
In The Bahamas Government’s Foreign Service (1981 – 2002), as Undersecretary she headed the International Relations Division, and also served in the Bahamas Embassy (Washington, DC) and The Bahamas Mission to the United Nations. She was Bahamas National Coordinator for the Summit of the Americas (1999 – 2002), and she also negotiated the basket of Social Development Issues on behalf of the Caribbean Region for the Third Summit of the Americas.
She was Chairperson of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (1994), the Commission on the Status of Women (1996 & 1997) and the Committee for Programme and Coordination (2001). She was Vice Chairperson of the OAS Budget Committee (1992) and the UN 5th Committee (administration and budget – 1998). She facilitated numerous negotiations in the international arena, has had number of speaking engagements and served as a UN consultant.
During the period 2002 – 2016, she was Senior Liaison Officer in the Liaison Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to the United Nations, New York, and then Director of the same Office. In that capacity, she promoted, at the United Nations and to the wider UN community, the broad mandate of the FAO to help build a world without hunger, in particular encouraging an understanding of agriculture and food security issues, as they pertained to the attainment of sustainable development goals. In this context she worked closely with all member states and other stakeholders (private sector and civil society), utilizing when necessary channels such as the Group of 77 and China, the European Union, the Latin American and the Caribbean countries group and other such mechanisms, to provide technical information to facilitate their negotiations. She represented FAO in a range of interagency meetings.
Effective January 2016, Ambassador Brennen-Haylock was appointed Director General of the Foreign Service of The Bahamas, where she leads the technical work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – International Relations, Intergovernmental Affairs, Economic and Sustainable Development, Legal Issues and Law of the Sea, Technical Assistance and Technical Cooperation, Consular Affairs and Protocol.
