Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted is the Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, a One CGIAR entity. She was awarded the 2021 World Food Prize for her ground-breaking research, critical insights, and landmark innovations in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems. She also received the 2021 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award for research innovation. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and Vice Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit 2021: Action Track 4 - Advance Equitable Livelihoods, and also a Food Systems Champion.

Dr. Thilsted studied at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine in Trinidad where she earned a BSc. in Tropical Agriculture in 1971. She began both her career and her life’s theme of making strides within and for a developing society as the first and only female agricultural officer in the Tobago Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries. Two years later, she returned to Trinidad and took on her first research-centred job at The UWI’s Faculty of Natural Sciences.

She holds a PhD from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

She has taught and researched at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Sokoine University in Tanzania as an FAO Associate Expert; and then as the Associate Head.

Several of her projects have been funded by organizations such as USAID, the African Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Thilsted was closely involved in the organization of the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, guiding the Summit's work related to building sustainable and equitable food systems. She is also involved with the Global Action Network in mobilizing activities for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).

Camille Wardrop Alleyne (born Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, October 12, 1966) is an American aerospace engineer, space scientist, internationally acclaimed speaker, writer, educational leader, and science ambassador. In the highly technical fields of science and engineering where women are in the minority, she is one of the most-recognized women in aerospace engineering and one of the few women of color to serve in a senior technical management positions at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She is the Associate Program Scientist for the international Space Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Basil Watson, CD (born 1958), is a Jamaican sculptor and painter.

He is the son of painter Barrington Watson, and the brother of sculptor Raymond Watson. He was honoured with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, in 2005, in recognition of his artistic accomplishments.

PAHO IN THE CARIBBEAN

Founded in 1902, the Pan American Health Organization [PAHO] is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American System and the World Health Organization's [WHO] Regional Office for the Americas. PAHO has been instrumental in helping the Region of the Americas to reach several historic public health milestones- from strengthening national health systems to provide universal access for all, to increasing vaccination coverage and eliminating certain infectious diseases. PAHO has spearheaded regional efforts to eradicate smallpox and poliomyelitis and has helped eight Caribbean countries to eliminate Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and syphilis.

PAHO provides unique technical and scientific expertise, collaborating with Ministries of Health, multilateral organizations, and other development partners to improve the health of the peoples of the Americas. The organization has also had a long and rich history of service to the Caribbean in public health.

Between 1951 and 1962, the country office in Venezuela was responsible for the delivery of PAHO’s technical cooperation in the Caribbean. During the 1960s, newly independent Caribbean states began to join PAHO, with the first country office being established in 1962 in Jamaica. To date, more than 20 Caribbean countries and territories are served by PAHO via eight 1 country offices together with the Office of Subregional Program Coordination based in Barbados.

Between 1967 and 2013, PAHO provided pioneering technical assistance to the Caribbean across numerous subject matter areas through its Office of Caribbean Program Coordination [CPC] and its Specialized Institutions 2 . Currently PAHO’s Office of Subregional Program Coordination actively collaborates with CARICOM, the Caribbean Public Health Agency [CARPHA], the University of the West Indies [UWI], and several civil society partners on a mutually agreed technical cooperation agenda, focusing on those critical and common public health issues, whose resolution are better managed from a collective rather than an individual country approach.

PAHO has contributed significantly to Caribbean preparedness and response to various hurricanes and storms over the years, and in combatting epidemics of yellow fever, dengue, Zika and chikungunya, among others. PAHO has vigorously supported cholera control efforts in Haiti and has assisted countries to address the burden and impact of the noncommunicable diseases
[NCDs] and their risk factors.

Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, PAHO is working closely with its Member States in the Americas to bolster effective risk communications, scale-up laboratory diagnostic capacities, supply emergency personnel and equipment, strengthen essential health services, and provide leadership and guidance for the vaccine roll out.

PAHO remains a steady partner to Caribbean countries and territories, accompanying governments in the development of strong health systems resilient to disasters and pandemics, as we collectively advance towards a healthier future.