New Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago Presents Credentials

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations, Dennis Francis, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Before his latest appointment, Mr. Francis headed the Directorate for Multilateral Relations in his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2012 until his retirement in 2016.

A 38-year career diplomat, Mr. Francis was Senior Policy Adviser to the Foreign Ministry on all United Nations, Commonwealth, G20 and all other matters related to foreign economic and trade policy, from 2012 until his retirement.

In 2014, Mr. Francis was Lead Negotiator on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) at the tenth session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals.  Between 2006 and 2011, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Human Rights Council.  He served in a similar capacity at the United Nations in Vienna, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Also during that period, Mr. Francis was his country’s Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), while serving concurrently as non-resident Ambassador to Austria and Italy, from 2007.

Among his many post-retirement activities, Mr. Francis was Co-Facilitator of the Training Course in Diplomacy and Protocol for the Modern Professional, within the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean at the University of the West Indies in Saint Augustine, Trinidad, assuming the position in 2017.  He was also Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO, as well as his country’s Representative on the UNESCO Executive Board, from 2018.

Mr. Francis holds a Bachelor of Arts in geography, second class honours, upper division, from the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica; a Master of Arts in international affairs from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C.; and a Post-Graduate Diploma in international relations, with honours, from the Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine.

He is married.