Paulette Bethel
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Dr. Paulette A. Bethel is a Bahamian diplomat from the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the arch ...
. She started her professional career in 1980 in the international field as Assistant Social Affairs Officer in the
Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs The Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs (CSDHA) was the division of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations ( ECOSOC), responsible for coordination of all issues related to social policy within the United Nations s ...
(CSDHA) in Vienna, Austria. She then joined the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bahamas) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Bahamas government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Bahamas. The Current foreign affairs minister is the Honourable Darren Henfield, MP (Member of Parliament) for North Abaco. See also ...
and served in diplomatic posts for long years for her country. She was a Special Adviser to the Office of the President of the
Seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly The 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 15 September 2015. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was from the Western European and Others Group. Organisation for the session Danish parliamentary speaker ...
. She was previously the Permanent Representative of the Bahamas to the United Nations from 4 March 2003 to 31 March 2013. She was the first female Ambassador of The Bahamas to the United Nations. She had also worked as Director of the Department of Fellowships at the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
(OAS); the first such position for a national of Bahamas.


Biography

Paulette A. Bethel, a Bahamian, obtained Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree from the University of Toronto and Master of Arts (M.A.) degree from the Howard University. She studied at the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...
and received her Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) in Sociology in 1980. She also studied and obtained Certificate for Creative Processes Facilitation and Certificate for International Negotiations: Practical Skills and Techniques. On completion of her education, in 1976 Bethel worked as a lecturer in Sociology at the
College of The Bahamas A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
. She then became Chairperson of the Department of Social Sciences in the same college during 1977. She started her professional career as a diplomat in Vienna in 1981 with the United Nations as Assistant Social Affairs Officer in the
Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs The Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs (CSDHA) was the division of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations ( ECOSOC), responsible for coordination of all issues related to social policy within the United Nations s ...
(CSDHA). She then became a diplomat in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bahamas) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Bahamas government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Bahamas. The Current foreign affairs minister is the Honourable Darren Henfield, MP (Member of Parliament) for North Abaco. See also ...
and served as Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of The Bahamas to the United Nations. After this she moved to the Embassy of The Bahamas in Washington D.C., in 1988 and concurrently was represented on
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
(OAS). She was the first diplomat to work at level of Director of the Department of Fellowships at the OAS, in 1994. She then returned to Bahamas where she worked with the private sector in the field of international financial and corporate services on issues of risk management and compliance. In March 2007 she was the "Team Leader" of a Joint Field Visit of the Executive Boards of UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, and WFP to Liberia to assess utilization of the UN funds and implementation of programmes during the process of the country's transition from "post-conflict to reconstruction, recovery, and development." Representing her country as the first woman, she was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bahamas to the United Nations from 2013; she worked in this capacity up to March 2013. Her long and wide range of services in the UN covered involvement with the issues related to
Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
(SDGs), climate change, budget and management. At the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly held in September 2011 she functioned in the capacity of Chef de Cabinet of the Office of the President for that session.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethel, Paulette Living people Bahamian women ambassadors Permanent Representatives of the Bahamas to the United Nations Year of birth missing (living people) University of Toronto alumni Howard University alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Social and Behavioral Sciences alumni Academic staff of the University of the Bahamas