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Jamaican Margarette Macaulay elected president of IACHR board

Published:Wednesday | March 8, 2023 | 9:28 PM
President of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Margarette Maculay (centre) with First Vice President, Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño (right) and as Second Vice President, Commissioner Roberta Clarke. - Contributed photo.

Jamaican attorney Margarette Maculay has been elected as President of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Maculay, a mediator at the Supreme Court of Jamaica, was elected on Monday.

Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño of Panama was elected first vice president and Roberta Clarke of Barbados was elected second vice president.

This is the second historic all-woman board of directors and the first with all-women from the Caribbean and Central American countries.

Macaulay has served on the IACHR board since 2016 and is in her second term.

She will serve for a period of one year and will preside over the session of the commission and represent it before the other organs of international organisations and institutions.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith has congratulated Maculay.

“As we celebrate International Women's Day today, the announcement of Macaulay's election as president of the board of directors is welcomed news as she is well known and is a strong advocate for women's rights.

“Jamaica sincerely values the work of the IAHCR in promoting and protecting human rights. The valuable service of Mrs Macaulay on the commission and her ongoing work to improve the operations and the efficiency of this body in the service to member states and the people of the region is truly commendable. As a representative of the Caribbean, we look forward to her continued service to achieve the mandate of the commission during her final year.”

Macaulay was a judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights from 2007 to 2012.

She is also an honourable member of the Legacy Wall for Gender Justice for women's rights advocates, which has achieved significant changes, and was launched in December 2017 at the United Nations in New York during the Assembly of Ministers.

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