GENEVA, Switzerland, May 18, 2020 — Keva Bain, the Permanent Representative of The Bahamas to the United Nations, has been elected as the President of the 73rd World Health Assembly.
“The WHA73 have elected Keva Bain, Permanent Representative of the Bahamas to the UN in Geneva as the President of the 73rd World Health Assembly,” tweeted the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The World Health Assembly is the main decision-making body of the WHO. The current two-day assembly is being held online.
In her first remarks following the election, Bain said the WHO must be steadfast in its response to the coronavirus pandemic and balance it with the need to help ensure the survival of many people.
“The role of the World Health Organisation in this time of crisis reminds us that we live in an interdependent and interconnected world, where health and well-being are shaped by circumstances, decisions and events occurring in distant places. Bacterial threats travel almost as quickly and encumbered as email messages, Twitter and money flow,” Sputnik quoted Bain as saying.
“The World Health Organisation must be steadfast in guiding the response to COVID-19 and the same time exact a balance with its mandate to meet the challenges that threaten the survival of many people, including those with chronic non-communicable diseases,” she added.
Ms. Bain’s appointment as Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation and Permanent Representative of The Bahamas to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Switzerland was announced by the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February of 2020.
Ambassador Bain’s professional career spans employment in both the public and private sectors. During her tenure as a Foreign Service Officer for The Bahamas, she was posted to The Bahamas High Commission in London, the Consulate General of The Bahamas in New York, and at the Permanent Mission of The Bahamas to the United Nations in New York.
Ambassador Bain obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Political Science from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She obtained her LL.B. (Hons) Degree from the University of Buckingham in Buckinghamshire, England, and her LL.M. in International Commercial Law from the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England.
A member of Lincoln’s Inn, Ms. Bain was called to both the English Bar (non-Practising) and The Bahamas Bar. She served as a Crown Counsel within the Office of the Attorney-General and also served as Acting Registrar at the Registrar General’s Department and Acting Deputy Registrar of the Court of Appeal of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
She also served as the Corporate Secretary and Compliance Manager of a Bahamian publicly traded subsidiary of a major Canadian Financial Institution operating in The Bahamas, and prior to being appointed to her current diplomatic post, she was the Acting Director of Trade and Industry and Legal Advisor within the Ministry of Financial Services, Trade & Industry and Immigration, with responsibility for international trade and industry matters.
