Pat Francis lands UN role

Pat Francis has been named the interim lead coordinator of the United Nations secretary general's high-level panel on Women's Economic Empowerment.

A very important role, Francis is expected to lead and supervise the organisation of the inaugural meeting of the panel tomorrow at the UN headquarters in New York. Additionally, Francis will oversee related preparatory meetings as well as coordinate the engagement of the lead author, who will deliver two reports in September 2016 and March 2017, respectively.

This is the first ever high-level panel on Women's Economic Empowerment to provide thought, leadership and mobilise concrete actions aimed at closing economic gender gaps that persist around the world.

The panel will provide recommendations for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to improve economic outcomes for women and promote women's leadership in driving sustainable and inclusive environmentally sensitive economic growth.

It will provide recommendations for key actions that can be taken by governments, the private sector, the UN system and other stakeholders, as well as policy directives needed to achieve the new targets and indicators in the Sustainable Development Goals, which call for the economic empowerment of women.

ENSURING EVERYTHING IS IN ORDER

" I will coordinate the development of a technical pool of experts and develop an agenda and proposed outcomes of the meeting in coordination with the co-chairs, UN Women and other partners. I am also responsible to formulate the draft work programme of the high-level panel, including developing a timeline for meetings and public consultations and establish the secretariat that will run the programme until it is ended in October 2017, manage the budget, and ensure that everything is in good order and at a high level of quality," Francis explained.

"The assignment will run to April, when the full team I am hiring will come on board," she further added.

Francis has resigned as chairman of the Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation Programme and the Trade Facilitation Task Force to allow the new Government to select its chairman. She undertook that position free of cost as her contribution to nation building.

"I will return to Jamaica in the beginning of April and look forward to continuing to contribute to the development of the country," Francis said.