Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 28, 2019 (SKNIS): Secretary General of the St. Kitts-Nevis National Commission for UNESCO, Antonio Maynard, will be retiring after 15 years of service on May 31, 2019. His tenure at the helm was surely felt on the regional and international arena within the UN agencies.
As a result of his active support, and advocacy, St. Kitts and Nevis was instrumental in creating, and chairing, the first ever Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Committee of Representatives at UNESCO in Paris, from 2006, to facilitate a dedicated dialogue between Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific SIDS delegates and the UNESCO SIDS Secretariat. St. Kitts & Nevis tabled numerous Draft Resolutions at the Executive Board over a 10-year period calling for more structured and focused funding for the SIDS constituency.
In a recent briefing with the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, accompanied by Dr. David P. Doyle, Ambassador/Permanent Delegate of St. Kitts-Nevis to UNESCO, Mr. Maynard spoke of the number of tangible UNESCO activities contributing to strengthening the country’s development policy, especially in education planning and teaching profession, and expounding on the cultural heritage sites on the island of Nevis with a view to a prospective World Heritage Listing.
“As I move on to the next page of my professional career, and reminisce on my 15 years working with UNESCO, I would like to express profound gratitude to all of the individuals and institutions who contributed towards the development of the UNESCO programme areas here in the Federation,” said Mr. Maynard. “These include Mr. David Doyle, permanent delegate for St. Kitts and Nevis to UNESCO, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, Ministers responsible for UNESCO affairs over the years, the UNESCO cluster office for the Caribbean, the UNESCO headquarters in Paris , the various and wide ranging UNESCO committees, and members on St. Kitts and Nevis.”