A new Caricom secretary general will be sworn in on Monday in a virtual ceremony at the Conference of Caricom Heads of Government meeting.

Belizean Dr Carla Barnett will be the eighth secretary general of Caricom and its predecessor the Caribbean Free Trade Association (Carifta), and takes over from Dominican economist Ambassador Irwin LaRocque who served from 2011-2021.

She is expected to outline her vision and address issues that require immediate attention.

Barnett, who is an economist was the first woman and the youngest person appointed as deputy secretary of Caricom from 1997-2002.

She was also the first woman to be appointed as Belize's deputy governor of the central bank and financial secretary, and worked at the Caribbean Development Bank as country economist and vice president of operations.

A long-time advocate for gender-equality, Barnett said, 'Not only because it is the right thing to do, to create a more stable and equitable society, but also because gender equality is good economic policy.'

Past secretary- generals were Edwin Carrington of TT from 1992-2010, Roderick Rainford of Jamaica 1983-1992, Kurleigh King of Barbados 1978-1983, Alister McIntyre of Grenada 1974-1977, William Demas of TT 1973-1974, and 1969-1973 (Carifta), Frederick Cozier of Barbados 1968-1969 (Carifta).

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