Sheila Monteith

Before I started yesterday's meetings I had the best morning with the women of @mfaftja . For my 9 years there, the only historical photos on the walls have been the former Foreign Ministers (who were all men) After a particularly inspiring meeting (about which I will share another time) PS and I agreed that a wall for Jamaican Women in Diplomacy was a fitting way to reflect the extensive roles which we have been playing over the years! We have started with our core Ministry posts and each year will add other historical dimensions. I am so looking forward to this expanded reflection of the work of incredible Jamaican Women in Diplomacy. I am blessed to share space. Our first honorees are Jeanette Grant - Woodham 1st female MOS (and also 1st female President of the Senate) ; Amb Gail Mathurin, the Ministry's first female PS; and Amb Carmen Parris, Jamaica's 1st female Ambassador. Today 6/7 of our executive team are Women, 23 of 28 senior managers are Women, 10 of 19 Heads of Mission are Women and 10 of 19 deputies are also Women! We not only speak of fostering women's leadership abilities, we LIVE it every day! Happy #IWD to my current PS @MonteithSheila and my former PS @MYGil_Roberts - two incredible women who hold/ have held the helm of the Foreign Service, and provided me with indispensable support, and Happy #IWD25 to every member of my amazing @mfaftja team! May we continue to empower others, give of our best, and be our best selves in service to JamaicaLandWeLove!

Every day, @mfaftja we work to maintain and strengthen our international partnerships in different ways. Yesterday it was a pleasure to invite Min Desmond McKenzie and the @odpem team to share with the Diplomatic Corps and International Organizations represented in Jamaica, information about our Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management Framework . This not only helps them to understand the robustness of our institutions for their sense of safety in their host country, but allows us to discuss opportunities for capacity building, technical cooperation, and sharing of best practices. Feedback so far is very positive and new enquiries have already been made! Have a look at a few highlights

Another wonderful context for the discussions between myself and H.E Kamikawa Yoko, was the Japan CARICOM Friendship Year also being celebrated this year. In my capacity as Chair of the COFCOR, it was important to reiterate the importance of this 30 year relationship and to discuss support for Haiti and opportunities for support for CDEMA, cooperation in disaster response and management.

1/4 I was pleased to host a bilateral meeting with H.E WANG Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. We were joined by HMOS the Hon. @terrelonge2016 , PS @MonteithSheila and other members of the @mfaftja team; H.E. Deng Li, Vice Min., MFA of the PRC; and H.E. Chen Daojiang, Amb to Jamaica.

Such a pleasure to welcome, on behalf of the Government of Jamaica, H.E. Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China. This is the first visit of a Chinese FM in 20 years and a welcome signal of the positive relations between our countries.

2/2Fruitful discussions included reflections on 51 years of diplomatic relations b/w JA and the PRC and the reiteration by PM @AndrewHolnessJM of Jamaica's adherence to the #OneChina policy. Current and potential areas of cooperation, as well as global affairs were also covered.

1/2A busy day of meetings started at the OPM with a courtesy call by H.E. Wang Yi on PM @AndrewHolnessJM accompanied by me @mfaftja and Ministers of Finance @NigelClarkeJa, Health @christufton and w/ responsibility for infrastructure within MEGJC E. Warmington.