Demystifying Human Trafficking in the Caribbean Context: The Intersection of Culture and Human Trafficking
2024 Freedom From Slavery Caribbean Regional Forum
In the idyllic landscapes of the Caribbean human trafficking is a hidden and pervasive threat. This modern form of slavery undermines the fabric of Caribbean societies, exploiting vulnerabilities and overshadowing the rich cultural heritage of the region. In the countries around the Caribbean, human trafficking hides behind questionable but often accepted cultural practices that are not recognized as trafficking or exploitation in local communities.
The 2024 Freedom from Slavery Caribbean Regional Forum is convened as a pivotal gathering designed to confront human trafficking head-on through an informed, culturally nuanced, and collaborative approach. This year’s forum explores the role of culture in perpetuating human trafficking and how regional cultural resources can be integrated into enhancing and accelerating the fight against the exploitation of women, men, and children.
It is a call to dismantle the trafficking networks that have entrenched themselves by exploiting historical, cultural, and socio-economic dynamics. Forum attendees will embark on a mission to demystify the complex and often hidden operations of human trafficking within the Caribbean through the lens of culture, which influences factors such as gender inequality, the demand for commercial sex, ethnic values, the mistrust by local communities of law enforcement, and hinders effective collaboration between state and non-state actors to address deep-rooted social challenges.
Why Attend?
The Caribbean Regional Forum offers stakeholders throughout the region a rare opportunity to coalesce to address critical concerns in the anti-trafficking space. In the three days, stakeholders will enhance their knowledge on the various ways in which human trafficking manifests in this region and how our culture, in many ways, facilitates this exploitation. Our goal is to enhance Caribbean anti-trafficking stakeholders’ capacity to carry out more informed advocacy at the national and regional levels, thereby potentially resulting in drastically improved prevention, protection and prosecution of trafficking cases.
The forum represents a unique convergence of survivors, policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and community stakeholders, offering an unparalleled platform for learning, networking, and strategizing. It is an imperative gathering for those dedicated to disrupting the cycle of exploitation, as it equips stakeholders with the insight and connections needed to catalyze real change. By attending, you become an integral part of a regional movement towards freedom and justice.
The Forum will be important for civil society actors and government representatives as it will highlight solutions to address critical gaps in the regional response, including comprehensive, community-level eradication of conditions that allow modern slavery to persist, and for community-based transformation leading to lasting community resilience.
Theme
Demystifying Human Trafficking in the Caribbean Context:
The Intersection of Culture and Human Trafficking
May 20-22, 2024
Kingston, Jamaica
Pegasus Hotel
Note: Click here to book your room at the Pegasus Hotel at a discounted rate
Anticipated Outcomes
- Enhanced knowledge of the various ways in which human trafficking manifests in the Caribbean region and how culture has enabled exploitation to go unnoticed.
- Strengthened capacities of Caribbean anti-trafficking stakeholders to carry out more informed advocacy in their territories.
- Increased harmonization of efforts across the region through a call to action for greater regionalization.
- Increased number of Caribbean countries achieving Tier 1 status in the US State Department’s TIP report by filling the gaps in the region’s anti-trafficking response.
DAY 1 – May 20
Opening Reception
Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director
Free The Slaves
BIO
Bukeni Waruzi is the Executive Director of Free the Slaves. He has documented human rights abuses, implemented advocacy campaigns, conducted training workshops, and made public presentations in 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his home country, he formed the grassroots nonprofit group AJEDI-KA/Child Soldiers Project to confront armed militias’ widespread enslavement of children. He videotaped evidence that led to the imprisonment of a notorious warlord. In Kenya, Waruzi served as a program manager for the Porticus Foundation, overseeing human rights, civic engagement, education, and climate change projects. He served as executive director of Watchlist in New York, an organization that protects children in conflict zones. And he has served as a senior program manager in New York for WITNESS, a group that empowers victims worldwide to collect evidence that brings perpetrators to justice. Waruzi has made presentations to the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and the Children’s Caucus of the U.S. Congress.
Diahann Gordon Harrison
National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons
Jamaica
BIO
Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since she graduated from The Norman Manley Law School. Before she was appointed Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.
Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School, has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide.
Sylvie Bertrand
Regional Representative
UNODC
Bio
Sylvie Bertrand, Regional Representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
On July 1, 2022, Ms. Sylvie Bertrand (Canada, Bolivia) joined the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC ROPAN) as its new Regional Representative. Bringing extensive experience to the region, Sylvie has been with UNODC since 2004, where she has served both in the field network in Kenya and South Africa and at its headquarters in Vienna. Most recently, she held the position of Deputy Regional Representative in the Regional Office for East Africa and, before joining the UNODC management team, she led various positions as advisor, expert, program coordinator and pillar head, implementing UNODC’s mandate in health and social development, including HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support for people who use drugs and those living and working in prison settings, as well as UNODC’s response to drug use prevention, treatment and care. Prior to joining UNODC, Sylvie worked at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a coordination officer in the Resident Coordinator’s Office in South Africa and, before joining the UN family, managed development projects in civil society organizations in Bolivia and Bulgaria.
She worked in the public sector at the municipal level addressing management practices, including results-based management and service delivery. Sylvie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, advanced degrees in Municipal Management and Law, as well as a Master’s degree in Public Administration from L’Ecole Administration.
Hon. Minister Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn
State Minister in the Ministry of National Security
Bio
The Hon. Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, MP was appointed State Minister in the Ministry of National Security on May 22, 2023. Prior to this, she served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
The Hon. Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn is a committed and passionate leader who has been serving her country with distinction since she was 16 years old. She is a five-time Olympian, a multiple track and field medalist, a businesswoman and the Member of Parliament for West Rural St Andrew since 2016.
She hails from Port Morant, St Thomas and attended Morant Bay High School before emigrating at 16 years old. She proudly represented the University of Texas, Austin where she studied Sociology while leading the university to a NCAA Championship in 1986. She was inducted in the university’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
Since 2005, Minister Cuthbert-Flynn has operated a fitness and wellness centre and has been a lifelong advocate for a healthy lifestyle that includes good nutrition, exercise and a positive mindset. She is a certified personal trainer, media personality, motivational speaker, former physical trainer for the Arnett Gardens Football Club and served as Marketing Manager at Western Sports, where she was instrumental in having Puma International sign Usain Bolt in 2003. She is also a past board member of the Sports Development Foundation and the Institute of Sports, as well as a previous committee member for the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission disciplinary panel. She was conferred with the Order of Distinction for her contribution to sports in 1992.
Mrs. Cuthbert-Flynn enjoys nature, interacting with and helping people and a good, hearty laugh. She is married to LeVaughn Flynn and has two children, Troy and Zara.
Cultural Perfomance
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Verene A. Shepherd
Prof. Emerita of History and Gender Studies at The University of the West Indies
Bio
St. Mary born Verene A. Shepherd, Prof. Emerita of History and Gender Studies at The University of the West Indies, is a graduate of St. Mary High School, Shortwood Teachers’ College, the University of the West Indies (The UWI) and the University of Cambridge, where she read for her PhD. In History. She is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society, Hon. Fellow, Jesus College, Cambridge
She is the current Director of the Centre for Reparation Research at The UWI and a Vice Chair, and former Chair, of the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the oldest Treaty Body in the UN System that implements the International Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Prof Shepherd is the first Jamaican/CARICOM Citizen and the first Black Woman of African Descent in the African Diaspora to chair this Committee in its over 50 years. As a UN expert she has played a role in the drafting of the Programme of Activities for the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024); and in the adoption of CERD General Recommendation 36 – “Preventing and Combatting Racial Profiling by Law Enforcement Officials.
Prof. Shepherd is a Vice-Chair of The CARICOM Reparations Commission and a former Chair and now member of the Jamaica National Council on Reparation. She is a published author/co-author, editor/co-editor of several books and refereed Journal articles. Among her books are The Biography of Lucille Mathurin Mair; Livestock, Sugar & Slavery: Contested Terrain in Colonial Jamaica; I Want to Disturb my Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Post-Colonial Jamaica and Maharani’s Misery: Narratives of a Passage from India to the Caribbean. Along with Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, she co-authored school texts like Liberties Lost, Freedoms Won, Caribbean Slavery in the Atlantic World and Caribbean Freedom.
She hosted Talking History on Nationwide 90 FM for 12 years, 2010-2022; is a past President of the Association of Caribbean Historians as well as a former University Director of The Institute for Gender & Development Studies, during which she spearheaded the production of The UWI’s Gender Policy; and a Board Member of the UWI-Glasgow Centre.
She has received several awards, including The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence for Public Service and the Order of Distinction, Commander Class from the Govt. of Jamaica for her work in History and Gender Studies and her public service.
She has lectured widely at Universities in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the wider Caribbean, Canada, Europe, The UK, The USA and Latin America. She is married to Bramwell, has 2 sons and is the proud grand-mother of Nyla and Jules.
As a reparation advocate she embraces the mantra “An injustice without a remedy is abhorrent to the spirit of Justice” and as a Historian she agrees with with Rt Excellent Marcus Garvey that “History is the landmark by which we are directed into the true course of life”.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Following the numbers: Lessons learned from the data in the region
This session will explore the questions: Do we have enough data? How do we treat the anecdotal data on the ground? Where does this data come from and who is providing this data? (including here various countries that are not often recognized in the data or in funding); Who are the victims? Who are the traffickers? How can we use the available data for each country to understand human trafficking?
Cherisse Francis
Panelist
Attorney at law. Doctoral Candidate researching Trafficking in persons
Bio
Ms. Cherisse Francis is a native of the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. Although she now considers herself to be an educator and researcher Cherisse began her career as a legal professional having graduated from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and the University of Aberdeen with a Master of Laws (Distinction). Cherisse also attended the Hugh Wooding Law School where she completed her Legal Education Certificate on the Principal’s Honour Roll and was subsequently called to the Barbadian legal bar in 2018. Throughout her educational pursuits, Cherisse remained committed to the pursuit of human rights through academia and her volunteering activities. After her LLM, Cherisse spent a short time as an intern at the United Nations Office for Barbados and the OECS before accepting a position with the Human Trafficking Institute (HTI). From 2019 to 2020 Cherisse was employed by the HTI as Judicial Research Assistant to the designated Trafficking in Persons Judge in the Belizean High Court. In this role she was involved in legal writing and research as well as training activities for state and non-state actors both in Belize and across the Caribbean. These experiences led Cherisse to pursue her PhD studies examining the culture, history, discourses and law surrounding anti-trafficking in the Anglophone Caribbean at the University of Warwick, UK which she submitted in January 2024. Since becoming a part of the regional anti-trafficking field Cherisse has also been involved in numerous consultancies, trainings, and workshops as a facilitator and scholar. At present, Cherisse is a Senior Lecturer (Law) at St.Mary’s University, Twickenham in England where she has taught among other things a course on Organised Crime, Trafficking and Contemporary slavery. She also continues to be engaged in research and serves as a trustee for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (London Office) which has modern slavery as a flagship area.
Adriana Oropeza
Panelist
Bio
Adriana Oropeza is a Mexican economist with over 28 years of experience shaping public policies grounded in the use of statistical and geographical information, and subsequent implementation through partnerships with key institutions and sectors.
In October 2023, she joined as the Coordinator of the UNODC – INEGI Center of Excellence, tasked with enhancing institutional capacities in Latin America and the Caribbean to bolster the generation of statistical information on government, crime, victimization, and justice.
For the past 15 years, she has served as an advisor to the Governing Board of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography in Mexico, where she developed new methodologies and statistical frameworks at national, regional, and international levels. Her involvement in expert groups has included representation in the Interagency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics of the United Nations Statistics Division, as well as in migration, environment, and climate change statistics groups, among others.
Adriana brings a wealth of experience as a generalist, having navigated diverse sectors and disciplines, thereby enriching her perspective and approach to policy development and implementation.
Previously, Ms. Oropeza held the position of Director of the Private Sector Studies Center and served as an advisor to the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment.
Facilitated Discussion
The intersection of Caribbean culture and human trafficking
This facilitated discussion will explore the various ways in which the culture in Caribbean nations facilitates various forms of trafficking in the region (migration, trafficking through sports, familial trafficking, views on prostitution/commercial sex, child begging).
Karen Carpenter
Facilitator
Keynote Speaker Bio
Awah Francisca Mbuli is a survivor of sex and labor trafficking and almost a victim of organ trafficking. She has a suspended Master’s degree in Human Rights and Multiculturalism from the Buskerud International University, Norway. She is the founder and Executive Director of Survivors’ Network (SN), a Cameroonian-based, female-led NGO leading the fight against all forms of human trafficking in Cameroon and Sub-Saharan African countries. She is an innovative and passionate leader who is fighting to prevent others from experiencing what she has been through.
Her work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She has two International Visitors Leadership programs awarded by the U.S Department of State in combatting human trafficking. In 2018 she was named a Trafficking in Persons hero for Cameroon, and she still is today. She also received recognition in 2020 for her work on Combatting Trafficking in persons. This recognition was awarded virtually.
Due to her hard work, she is the 2022 Ashoka fellow from Anglophone West Africa, joining two other women from Nigeria. Her organization, Survivors’ Network, also won the Elkes Impact award for best community-based organization in the fight to combat modern slavery in 2022 at the Global Freedom from Slavery Forum in Morocco, organized by Free The Slaves. She also doubled as their Ambassador for two years.
Francisca’s innovative programs focus on rescuing survivors, assuring their safe return home and reuniting them with their families. As part of this process sur psychosocial services, economically empowering women who are survivors of human trafficking and various violence as well as internally displaced women and children, in various diverse endeavors ranging from urgent economic empowerment to vocational skills training which doubles with a safe/shelter home. Among other accomplishments, she has helped rescue and reintegrate 65 female victims of human trafficking from the Gulf Corporation States to their respective Sub-Saharan African home countries and her work as at now has touched over 5000 women and girls directly and the masses indirectly.
She advocates both with governments and the general population to adjust policies governing the anti-human trafficking laws in her country and to push all
to get on board with this fight as we all know the just published statistic had raised from 40 to 50 million people in modern slavery with the Covid-19 being
one of the causes of the increase.
Some of Awah’s awards include:
– 50 Most Influential Cameroonians
– Mo Ibrahim Foundation Now Generation Fellow
– Obama Africa Leader
– African dream Achievers Award
– US Trafficking in Persons Hero award
– Global Freedom Exchange
– Elkes Impact Award
– Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Management Committee
– Ashoka Fellow 2022
– Vital Voices Visionaries Fellowship 2022
– World of Difference Award 2022 for Economic Empowerment of Women.
A1: Understanding the traffickers
This workshop will take a deeper look at who are the traffickers in the region and what vulnerabilities they are exploiting. We will explore what traffickers and trafficking organizations look like. (e.g., Sporting, unemployment, schools and children and sponsor-walk sheets)
Kemisha Gordon
Facilitator
Bio
Awah Francisca Mbuli is a survivor of sex and labor trafficking and almost a victim of organ trafficking. She has a suspended Master’s degree in Human Rights and Multiculturalism from the Buskerud International University, Norway. She is the founder and Executive Director of Survivors’ Network (SN), a Cameroonian-based, female-led NGO leading the fight against all forms of human trafficking in Cameroon and Sub-Saharan African countries. She is an innovative and passionate leader who is fighting to prevent others from experiencing what she has been through.
Her work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She has two International Visitors Leadership programs awarded by the U.S Department of State in combatting human trafficking. In 2018 she was named a Trafficking in Persons hero for Cameroon, and she still is today. She also received recognition in 2020 for her work on Combatting Trafficking in persons. This recognition was awarded virtually.
Due to her hard work, she is the 2022 Ashoka fellow from Anglophone West Africa, joining two other women from Nigeria. Her organization, Survivors’ Network, also won the Elkes Impact award for best community-based organization in the fight to combat modern slavery in 2022 at the Global Freedom from Slavery Forum in Morocco, organized by Free The Slaves. She also doubled as their Ambassador for two years.
Francisca’s innovative programs focus on rescuing survivors, assuring their safe return home and reuniting them with their families. As part of this process sur psychosocial services, economically empowering women who are survivors of human trafficking and various violence as well as internally displaced women and children, in various diverse endeavors ranging from urgent economic empowerment to vocational skills training which doubles with a safe/shelter home. Among other accomplishments, she has helped rescue and reintegrate 65 female victims of human trafficking from the Gulf Corporation States to their respective Sub-Saharan African home countries and her work as at now has touched over 5000 women and girls directly and the masses indirectly.
She advocates both with governments and the general population to adjust policies governing the anti-human trafficking laws in her country and to push all
to get on board with this fight as we all know the just published statistic had raised from 40 to 50 million people in modern slavery with the Covid-19 being
one of the causes of the increase.
Some of Awah’s awards include:
– 50 Most Influential Cameroonians
– Mo Ibrahim Foundation Now Generation Fellow
– Obama Africa Leader
– African dream Achievers Award
– US Trafficking in Persons Hero award
– Global Freedom Exchange
– Elkes Impact Award
– Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Management Committee
– Ashoka Fellow 2022
– Vital Voices Visionaries Fellowship 2022
– World of Difference Award 2022 for Economic Empowerment of Women.
B 1: Cultural and Historical connections within and between the Caribbean Countries.
This workshop will take a look at the cultural and historical commonalities that are perpetuating trafficking in the region such as domestic servitude – linking this to historical legacies such as the house-girl from West Africa and Indo-Caribbean traditions. This workshop will be interactive and include checking biases that make it difficult for people to recognize trafficking when it’s happening; high rates of migration, etc.
Dr. Elizabeth Thomas Hope
Facilitator
Chair of Environmental Management at the University of the West Indies
Keynote Speaker Bio
Professor Elizabeth Thomas-Hope holds a doctorate from Oxford University and Master degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen and Pennsylvania State. She was appointed to the Chair of Environmental Management at the University of the West Indies in 1993. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) and a recipient of the Government of Jamaica award of Order of Distinction, Commander Class (CD). She has done extensive research into various aspects of migration and has undertaken consultancies internationally and nationally. She is currently Professor Emerita at the University of the West Indies, attached to the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social & Economic Studies (SALISES) Mona.
Facilitated Discussion
Are we really “One Caribbean” when approaching TIP?
Do Caribbean countries work together to combat trafficking or are we working in silos?
Amanda Ackbarali-Ramdial
Facilitator
Project Associate
(CariSECURE
DAY 2 – May 21
Keynote Speaker
Ambassador Stone-Roofe
Ambasodor, Jamaica
Keynote Speaker Bio
Professor Elizabeth Thomas-Hope holds a doctorate from Oxford University and Master degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen and Pennsylvania State. She was appointed to the Chair of Environmental Management at the University of the West Indies in 1993. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) and a recipient of the Government of Jamaica award of Order of Distinction, Commander Class (CD). She has done extensive research into various aspects of migration and has undertaken consultancies internationally and nationally. She is currently Professor Emerita at the University of the West Indies, attached to the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social & Economic Studies (SALISES) Mona.
Panel Discussion
Exploring recent developments in counter – human trafficking policy and legislation in the region
Panelists will provide a critical analysis of the recent developments in counter-trafficking legislation and policy across the region. What are some areas of success? What are some areas for improvement?
Diahann Gordon Harrison
Moderator
National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons
Jamaica
Bio
Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since she graduated from The Norman Manley Law School. Before she was appointed Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.
Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School, has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide.
Cherisse Francis
Panelist
Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies, University of the Birmingham, UK
Bio
Dr Jason Haynes is an attorney-at-law of over 7 years, having been called to the Bar of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. At present, he is an Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He served as a Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission in Barbados for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. In this capacity, he worked on a range of matters, including human trafficking.
He has consulted on the issue of human trafficking for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, and the Caribbean Community. On the issue of migrant smuggling, he has consulted for the International Organisation for Migration (Caribbean). He has advised a range of regional and international actors on human trafficking, including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Free the Slaves, CARICOM IMPACTS, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and has drafted sentencing guidelines on human trafficking for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He has written a book (Hart Publishing) on human trafficking, as well as several journal articles in international peer-reviewed journals.
He has a First Class Honours LLB degree (University of the West Indies), a LLM with Distinction (University of Nottingham), a MSc (University of Oxford), and a PhD (Durham University). He is a Chevening Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at McGill University, an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, UK, and the Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. His work on human trafficking won the 2022 UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Cherisse Francis
Panelist
Attorney at law. Doctoral Candidate researching Trafficking in persons
Bio
Ms. Cherisse Francis is a native of the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. Although she now considers herself to be an educator and researcher Cherisse began her career as a legal professional having graduated from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and the University of Aberdeen with a Master of Laws (Distinction). Cherisse also attended the Hugh Wooding Law School where she completed her Legal Education Certificate on the Principal’s Honour Roll and was subsequently called to the Barbadian legal bar in 2018. Throughout her educational pursuits, Cherisse remained committed to the pursuit of human rights through academia and her volunteering activities. After her LLM, Cherisse spent a short time as an intern at the United Nations Office for Barbados and the OECS before accepting a position with the Human Trafficking Institute (HTI). From 2019 to 2020 Cherisse was employed by the HTI as Judicial Research Assistant to the designated Trafficking in Persons Judge in the Belizean High Court. In this role she was involved in legal writing and research as well as training activities for state and non-state actors both in Belize and across the Caribbean. These experiences led Cherisse to pursue her PhD studies examining the culture, history, discourses and law surrounding anti-trafficking in the Anglophone Caribbean at the University of Warwick, UK which she submitted in January 2024. Since becoming a part of the regional anti-trafficking field Cherisse has also been involved in numerous consultancies, trainings, and workshops as a facilitator and scholar. At present, Cherisse is a Senior Lecturer (Law) at St.Mary’s University, Twickenham in England where she has taught among other things a course on Organised Crime, Trafficking and Contemporary slavery. She also continues to be engaged in research and serves as a trustee for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (London Office) which has modern slavery as a flagship area.
Mario Cordero Vejar
Panelist
Officer under the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, UNODC’s Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean
Bio
Mr. Mario Cordero Véjar currently serves as a Programme Officer under the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section for UNODC’s Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean based in Panama City. Mario has over 13 years working in the international arena on topics related to organized crime and drugs, particularly in the field of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Prior to joining UNODC’s Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean, he worked for six years at UNODC Mexico on a wide array of topics such as criminal investigation of high impact-crimes, gender-based violence, environmental crimes, border management, drug trafficking, drug use prevention and treatment, as well as trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. As part of his endeavors, and alongside his team, he provided assistance to over 480 victims of trafficking in persons by building capacity for staff of specialized shelters that tend to survivors of this crime and developed a massive awareness-raising campaign on trafficking in persons and reaching 11 million passengers. This campaign allowed for 6 victims to be rescued from airplanes and 4 cases to be prosecuted by authorities.
For the past years he has focused on building partnerships-particularly with the private sector (such as UBER, AIRBNB, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter)-; enhancing South-South cooperation; and incorporating an intersectional approach in project design implementation and monitoring. Before joining UNODC he worked for five years at an international NGO focusing on local peacebuilding, crime prevention and rule of law in the country’s most dangerous regions. He has also worked in the private sector and as a journalist. His academic background is in communications, international cooperation for development, victim assistance and criminal justice. Mario is native in Spanish, fluent in English and French.
Workshop: Getting It Right
A2: Successful Identification and Referral of Victims of Trafficking in Persons
This workshop will explore a case study of a successful victim identification and referral system in the region.
Neil Bacchus
Facilitator
Chief Executive Officer,
Indigenous Peoples’ Commission
Bio
Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since she graduated from The Norman Manley Law School. Before she was appointed Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.
Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School, has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide.
Cherisse Francis
Panelist
Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies, University of the Birmingham, UK
Bio
Dr Jason Haynes is an attorney-at-law of over 7 years, having been called to the Bar of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. At present, he is an Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He served as a Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission in Barbados for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. In this capacity, he worked on a range of matters, including human trafficking.
He has consulted on the issue of human trafficking for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, and the Caribbean Community. On the issue of migrant smuggling, he has consulted for the International Organisation for Migration (Caribbean). He has advised a range of regional and international actors on human trafficking, including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Free the Slaves, CARICOM IMPACTS, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and has drafted sentencing guidelines on human trafficking for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He has written a book (Hart Publishing) on human trafficking, as well as several journal articles in international peer-reviewed journals.
He has a First Class Honours LLB degree (University of the West Indies), a LLM with Distinction (University of Nottingham), a MSc (University of Oxford), and a PhD (Durham University). He is a Chevening Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at McGill University, an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, UK, and the Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. His work on human trafficking won the 2022 UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean.
B2: Effective Collaboration among state and non-state actors to combat Trafficking in Persons
This workshop will explore best practices and lessons learned in the region on effective collaboration between state and non-state actors.
Lissette Reyes
Facilitator
Lissette Reyes,
Project Officer for the TRACK4TIP Initiative
Bio
Ms. Lissette Reyes works as the Project Officer for the TRACK4TIP Initiative in the Caribbean: “Transforming Alerts into Criminal Justice Responses to Combat Trafficking in Persons within migration flows” at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. For the last four years, Ms. Reyes has worked to support and lead the coordination and implementation of the project, among other TIP initiatives in the Caribbean, while closely collaborating with the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section at UNODC headquarters.
With a background in project management for community and international development, Lissette has gained valuable experience in overseeing various projects. She holds a postgraduate diploma in development and a master’s degree in political science with a specialization in international development and international cooperation.
Ms. Reyes served for five years at the U.S. Department of State in the Dominican Republic. Ms. Reyes worked in consular affairs and investigations dealing with multiple areas such as document counterfeiting, smuggling of migrants, safe migration, and trafficking in persons, among others. During this time, she actively participated in outreach campaigns against irregular pathways for migration, facilitated capacity building, led investigative cases, and engaged in public policy analysis.
Ms. Reyes has worked on the review of policies, national action plans, and legislation. Ms. Reyes has worked as an independent consultant, providing expertise in communication, project operations, and implementation. Lissette has extensive experience providing training and leading capacity-building activities for government officials, and law enforcement, as well as working to enhance the criminal justice responses to human trafficking through the design of tools and technical assistance in the region.
Ms. Reyes’s expertise has been regarded for her ability to convene with multiple stakeholders in the search of new approaches to combat trafficking.
FACILITATED DISCUSSION
Best Practices in the Application of the Non-Punishment Principle
This plenary discussion will explore how non-punishment principle has been implemented in the region, best practices, lessons learned, the barriers to implementation, and potential solutions to these barriers.
Amber Sherwood
Facilitator
Country Director,
Human Trafficking Institute,
Belize
Bio
Amber Sherwood is the Country Director for Belize with the Human Trafficking Institute. By partnering with the Belize Police Department, HTI provides its expertise through training police officers and other government partners in enhanced investigative practices to increase arrests and prosecution of Trafficking in Persons cases in Belize. Prior to her position in Belize, Ms. Sherwood served as an Assistant State Attorney for fifteen years in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, within the State of Florida. Ms. Sherwood prosecuted hundreds of cases including homicide, child sexual exploitation offenses and human trafficking. In 2023, she served as the Legislative chairperson for the Tampa Bay Human Trafficking Task force. Ms. Sherwood holds a Juris Doctorate Degree in Law, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Russian Studies and Political Science.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Responding to Cross Border Trafficking in the Caribean Region
This panel will examine the different ways Caribbean territories are addressing cross-border trafficking, best practices, lessons learned, barriers to effective responses, and potential solutions.
Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews
Facilitator
Consultant
Immigration Division
Bio
Charmaine Gandhi-Andrewsserved in Trinidad and Tobago Public Service for thirty-eight years, thirty-two of which was spent as an Immigration Officer in the Ministry of National Security. She became the first female Chief Immigration Officer in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, a position she held until her early retirement from Public Service in January of this year.
Passionate about issues relating to trafficking in persons, Charmaine has been involved in anti-human trafficking activities since 2009. She advocated for and was actively involved in developing and implementing policies and legislation on trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2012 she was appointed as the first Director to lead the establishment of Trinidad and Tobago’s Counter Trafficking Unit and develop and implement the country’s anti-trafficking efforts. She led the investigation, identification, rescue, rehabilitation, and reunification of victims of human trafficking with their families.
The US State Department recognized Charmaine as a hero acting to end modern-day slavery in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. In December 2022, she was honored with the Migrant Hero Award from the International Organization for Migration, Port of Spain office, for her years of dedication and service in the field of migration.
Lissette Reyes
Panelist
Project Officer
TRACK4TIP Initiative
Bio
Dr Jason Haynes is an attorney-at-law of over 7 years, having been called to the Bar of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. At present, he is an Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He served as a Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission in Barbados for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. In this capacity, he worked on a range of matters, including human trafficking.
He has consulted on the issue of human trafficking for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, and the Caribbean Community. On the issue of migrant smuggling, he has consulted for the International Organisation for Migration (Caribbean). He has advised a range of regional and international actors on human trafficking, including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Free the Slaves, CARICOM IMPACTS, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and has drafted sentencing guidelines on human trafficking for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He has written a book (Hart Publishing) on human trafficking, as well as several journal articles in international peer-reviewed journals.
He has a First Class Honours LLB degree (University of the West Indies), a LLM with Distinction (University of Nottingham), a MSc (University of Oxford), and a PhD (Durham University). He is a Chevening Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at McGill University, an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, UK, and the Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. His work on human trafficking won the 2022 UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Facilitated Discussion
Building a Movement Narrative: The Caribbean Perspective
Dr. Brook Bello
Facilitator
Founder
More Too Life
Bio
Brook’s impact extends to digital education platforms addressing sexual exploitation. She launched Eval, a mental healthcare tech, chosen by Techstars Founders Catalyst. A Master’s Series alumnus, she holds a US Patent, creating innovative software in mental healthcare, AI, and machine learning.
An accomplished author, Brook’s works include “Living Inside The Rainbow” and “S+CxM=O.” Recent releases, “Shame Undone” and “Fine Heart Table Book,” showcased at special events in Monaco, reflect her commitment.
With a Ph.D. in Pastoral Clinical Counseling, Brook is a global speaker recognized by the United Nations and Google Next-Gen Fellow. Advocate of the Year in Florida, she collaborates with entities like the FBI, DOJ, and Harvard. An inspiration to all genders, Brook, with her unwavering stance, resides in South Florida, amplifying voices for a better world.
Day Three
Keynote speech
Charmaine Gandhi Andrews
Consultant
Imigration Division
Exploring recent developments in counter-human trafficking policy and legislation in the region
Bio
Charmaine Gandhi-Andrewsserved in Trinidad and Tobago Public Service for thirty-eight years, thirty-two of which was spent as an Immigration Officer in the Ministry of National Security. She became the first female Chief Immigration Officer in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, a position she held until her early retirement from Public Service in January of this year.
Passionate about issues relating to trafficking in persons, Charmaine has been involved in anti-human trafficking activities since 2009. She advocated for and was actively involved in developing and implementing policies and legislation on trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2012 she was appointed as the first Director to lead the establishment of Trinidad and Tobago’s Counter Trafficking Unit and develop and implement the country’s anti-trafficking efforts. She led the investigation, identification, rescue, rehabilitation, and reunification of victims of human trafficking with their families.
The US State Department recognized Charmaine as a hero acting to end modern-day slavery in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. In December 2022, she was honored with the Migrant Hero Award from the International Organization for Migration, Port of Spain office, for her years of dedication and service in the field of migration.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Human Trafficking Gaps within the Caribbean.
Unidentified systemic factors contributing to human trafficking in the Caribbean
This session will focus on vulnerable groups, migratory patterns, systems of care for victims/survivors, and legislative procedures in the region which perpetuate victimization and trauma but are often overlooked.
Diahann Gordon Harrison
Panelist
National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Jamaica
Bio
Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since she graduated from The Norman Manley Law School. Before she was appointed Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.
Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School, has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide.
Merphilus James
Panelist
President, Disabled People’s International North America & The Caribbean Inc.
Bio
Merphilus James is an avid disability rights advocate from the island of Saint Lucia. He has served as President of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) in Saint Lucia since January 2015. In 2019 he was elected President of Disabled People’s International North America and The Caribbean Inc. (DPI NAC) at the Tenth Regional Assembly which was held in Saint Kitts.
Due to an extremely rare condition called Amniotic Band Syndrome, Merphilus was born with differences of his right hand and left leg. He has used a left prosthetic leg from the age of four. James is passionate about the advancement of persons with disabilities through education, social justice and empowerment, harnessing the innate talents of PWDs in advocacy and public awareness.
Merphilus James has held positions in the public service as a Programme Officer and National Volunteer Coordinator in the Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is currently a Training Officer with the National Skills Development Center where he cherishes his involvement in the education of youth in invaluable, marketable technical vocational skills.
Major projects currently being undertaken under James’ leadership in Saint Lucia are prosthetic leg manufacturing, mobility aid distribution, climate resilience aquaponics for persons with disabilities and community-based rehabilitation.
Dr. Sandra Maria Anderson Spencer
Panelist
Founded Love Gardens Ministries International, Inc
Bio
Dr. Sandra Maria Anderson-Spencer founded Love Gardens Ministries International, Inc (LGMI). A 501(3)c nonprofit, LGMI is a holistic mentorship and counseling program that mentors empowers, and transforms the lives of individuals, families, and communities through psychosocial and psychoeducational initiatives. Sandra is an advocate of health and wellness. She is a witness that faith and hope can restore every life, no matter the circumstance.
Sandra has overcome insurmountable odds through faith in God, including childhood sexual abuse at seven and sex trafficking at eleven. Her tumultuous life led to her placement in the Department of Children and
Families (DCF) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at twelve years old. She became pregnant at thirteen and continued in DCF custody, foster care, and shelter homes. Her life presented her with a front-row seat, from witnessing domestic violence to surviving it. Unresolved trauma left Sandra depressed, anxious, suicidal, and, for several years, homeless. The trauma led her to crack cocaine addiction at sixteen and a 1987 drug-sting arrest captured on national TV by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office during the “War on Drugs.”
In 1990, Sandra’s faith in God and her fight for education freed her from crack cocaine and alcohol addiction. All the same, in 1992, Sandra became very ill. At that time, a diagnosis of AIDS came as a wake-up call, pulling her out of apathy, self-pity, and the numbing mental trench of all the grievous offenses collected during childhood turmoils. That same year, through her Christian Faith, Sandra fought for her health and wellness by gaining the courage to confront the pain, the torment of domestic violence, self-abuse, and childhood secrets. She fought for her education, and in 1994, Commissioner Clay Shaw awarded her Alumni of the Year in Nursing from the BETA program. During that time, Sandra and her compassionate doctor, Alberto Mestre, fought for her life, going from a CD4 of 2 (AIDS diagnosis) to a healthy T-cell count with an undetectable viral load.
In 2004, Sandra climbed Pikes Peak in Colorado, taking a stand to take back her life and wellness completely. After two days on the mountain, Sandra reached the summit: 14,115 feet. That same year, Sandra filed for divorce and freed herself from domestic violence. She lived in her car for over a year, traveling out of state to feel safe. Still, she persevered, and in 2009, Sandra earned her bachelor’s degree in human services. In 2016, Sandra completed her autobiography, “Lessons from the Thorns; His Grace is Sufficient.” Her book chronicles her fight for mental health and wellness after trauma. In addition, the documentary Taking Innocence Project Docuseries captures parts of her life’s story and other survivors of human trafficking. Sandra is the International Best-selling author of the collaborative book “Chosen: A Call Through Refinement.”
Sandra has made education her priority, and later, in 2013, she received her master’s in organizational leadership at Palm Beach Atlantic University. In 2023, Sandra graduated from Liberty University, earning her Doctor of Education degree in Community Care and Counseling Marriage and Family Therapy. She completed her dissertation on the Psychosocial impacts of transgenerational trauma on the parenting styles of African American women.
Today, Sandra operates her mentoring and coaching practice, LGMI, and she also creates programs as the Minority AIDS Coordinator for the Department of Health to halt the transmission of trauma in families by increasing awareness of “why” we do what we do to get to the underlying problem. Additionally, 30 years HIV positive, she helps others understand the importance of knowing their HIV status, getting tested, and staying well. Sandra believes
that counseling is imperative.
Knowledge and self-awareness are critical. When we are teachable, we can Restart to Restore our lives. Sandra implements a multidimensional approach in her coaching practice to help transform lives with long-term, sustainable, positive outcomes. We are here to serve and impact true transformation in individuals, families, and communities.
Shamere MacKenzie
Panelist
Chief Executive Officer
Sun Gate Foundation
Bio
Shamere McKenzie is a dedicated consultant, activist, and internationally recognized speaker known for her expertise in human trafficking. With a remarkable journey of turning personal adversities into opportunities for liberation and protection, Shamere has become a catalyst for social and political change both in America and across the globe.
As the Chief Executive Officer of Sun Gate Foundation, an anti-trafficking organization, Shamere passionately channels her commitment to education and policy into providing survivors of human trafficking with essential educational opportunities. Her influential role extends to the Maryland State Human Trafficking Task Force, where she co-chairs the victim’s services committee.
Beyond her impact in the United States, Shamere responded to a call from the Ministry of Justice in her birthplace, Jamaica, and holds the distinguished title of the first appointed Anti-Human Trafficking Ambassador for Jamaica since 2018.
Drawing on her experiences as a former Program Director, Shamere authored a groundbreaking anti-trafficking program and oversaw an emergency residential program for adult survivors. She is a sought-after resource, having trained various professionals, including the FBI, Homeland Security, and Bureau of Diplomatic Security, as well as personnel from churches, hotels, and airlines, on identifying and responding to human trafficking victims.
Shamere’s compelling narrative, rooted in her lived experiences with sex trafficking, has been featured in several books, documentaries, and media outlets, serving as an impactful educational tool. Her most recent documentary, “False Promises,” released in 2018 on the island of Aruba, specifically addresses sex trafficking awareness among Caribbean youth.
In 2015, Shamere graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She actively contributes to various boards, advisory boards, and speaker’s bureaus, garnering numerous awards in recognition of her outstanding work.
Shamere’s unwavering determination, passion for success, and her faith in Jesus Christ serve as guiding principles, reinforcing her commitment to the cause. Refusing to be labeled a victim or survivor, she proudly identifies as a liberator – breaking free from the chains of her past to pave the way for others who have endured enslavement.
FACILITATED DISCUSSION
A deeper exploration of the systemic contributing factors to Human Trafficking in the Caribbean
This will be an open plenary discussion on the gaps in the region, incorporating questions and contributions from the audience.
Dr. Jason Haynes
Facilitator
Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies,
University of the Birmingham, UK
Bio
Dr Jason Haynes is an attorney-at-law of over 7 years, having been called to the Bar of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. At present, he is an Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He served as a Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission in Barbados for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. In this capacity, he worked on a range of matters, including human trafficking.
He has consulted on the issue of human trafficking for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, and the Caribbean Community. On the issue of migrant smuggling, he has consulted for the International Organisation for Migration (Caribbean). He has advised a range of regional and international actors on human trafficking, including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Free the Slaves, CARICOM IMPACTS, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and has drafted sentencing guidelines on human trafficking for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He has written a book (Hart Publishing) on human trafficking, as well as several journal articles in international peer-reviewed journals.
He has a First Class Honours LLB degree (University of the West Indies), a LLM with Distinction (University of Nottingham), a MSc (University of Oxford), and a PhD (Durham University). He is a Chevening Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at McGill University, an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, UK, and the Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. His work on human trafficking won the 2022 UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Workshops: What Needs to be Done? Pt 1
A4: Prevention
This session will incorporate the learnings on vulnerabilities and systemic gaps from previous sessions to brainstorm practical next steps in improving prevention in the region.
Stacy-Ann Smith
Facilitator
Founder
Pursued International
Bio
Stacy-Ann Smith boasts a distinguished career spanning 12 years as a therapist, with expertise honed through firsthand experiences with human trafficking in Indonesia, Vietnam, Jamaica, and the United States. She has effectively trained first responders, including medical personnel and the Counter Terrorism Unit of The Jamaica Constabulary Force, in combating human trafficking. Stacy-Ann is widely recognized as a survivor, advocate, and speaker committed to eradicating human trafficking and supporting survivors of sexual abuse. Her personal journey, marked by overcoming the trauma of sexual abuse at a young age, has empowered her to champion the cause, both locally in Jamaica and on the global stage. Armed with a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and certifications in trauma counseling, she offers profound insights into the complexities of trauma and recovery. As the Founder and CEO of Pursued International, Stacy-Ann leads efforts to raise awareness, educate communities, and advocate for policy reforms to combat human trafficking and support survivors. In 2023, she was honored with The Children’s Advocate’s Recognition Award from the Office of the Children’s Advocate. Stacy-Ann’s resilience, courage, and unwavering commitment to justice serve as an inspiration, rallying others to join the fight against modern-day slavery.
Workshops: What Needs to be Done? Pt 1
A4: Protection
This session will incorporate the learnings on vulnerabilities and systemic gaps from previous sessions to brainstorm practical next steps in improving Protection in the region.
Sandra Christie Brown
Facilitator
Founder
Finding Your Light Foundation, Inc.
Bio
Sandra Christie Brown is the founder of the Finding Your Light Foundation, Inc. focusing on mental health. She is a member of Metropolitan Dade County Section-NCNW, Inc. (MDCS-NCNW) and served two terms as President. Sandra led the Section to new heights in membership, scholarships, partnerships, and community empowerment.
The Section adopted the Bethune Head Start School; partnered with the City of Miami’s Health/Resource Fair; Bethune Cookman University’s Miami Dade Alumni Chapter and National Organization of Black Law Enforcement’s (NOBLE) Annual Holiday Toys Giveaway; and Tallahassee Florida group against Human Trafficking Education Bill. MDCS awarded $1,000 scholarships to seniors attending HBCUs; held Voter Education Workshops kicking-off “Four for The Future.” Sandra introduced the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Vegetable Garden “Plant, Grow, and Eat,” and facilitated the Dr. Dorothy I. Height Forever Black Heritage Stamp Dedication.
Sandra has served as NCNW National Executive Board Member-at- Large from 2014-present and was appointed September 2020 by Dr. Johnnetta Cole as NCNW National Chair Human Trafficking Committee
Memberships: NAACP.; National Organization Black Law Enforcement Executives, Toastmasters International; Women’s Chamber of Commerce; Bethune Cookman University Miami-Dade Alumni Chapter-Honorary Member; The People Profile former Executive Director, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; and Board Member-Foundation of Community Assistance & Leadership.
Honors: Maverley Primary School Wellness Center in honor of Sandra Christie Brown 2023, The People Profile Corporate Leader of the Year 2020.MDCS-NCNW Dr. Dorothy I. Height Leadership Award 2016, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Distinguished Award 2018; and 2016 NOBLE South Florida Chapter Sector Member of the Year.
Sandra attended Miami Dade College and majored in Business Administration. A 31-year career Insurance and finance, she is an Insurance Broker with Access Life and holds a FL 2-15 License in FL, GA, MD, SC, NC, OH, MI, TX, Life, Health, and Variable Annuities.
Shemere Mackenzie
Facilitator
Chief Executive Officer
Sun Gate Foundation
Bio
Shamere McKenzie is a dedicated consultant, activist, and internationally recognized speaker known for her expertise in human trafficking. With a remarkable journey of turning personal adversities into opportunities for liberation and protection, Shamere has become a catalyst for social and political change both in America and across the globe.
As the Chief Executive Officer of Sun Gate Foundation, an anti-trafficking organization, Shamere passionately channels her commitment to education and policy into providing survivors of human trafficking with essential educational opportunities. Her influential role extends to the Maryland State Human Trafficking Task Force, where she co-chairs the victim’s services committee.
Beyond her impact in the United States, Shamere responded to a call from the Ministry of Justice in her birthplace, Jamaica, and holds the distinguished title of the first appointed Anti-Human Trafficking Ambassador for Jamaica since 2018.
Drawing on her experiences as a former Program Director, Shamere authored a groundbreaking anti-trafficking program and oversaw an emergency residential program for adult survivors. She is a sought-after resource, having trained various professionals, including the FBI, Homeland Security, and Bureau of Diplomatic Security, as well as personnel from churches, hotels, and airlines, on identifying and responding to human trafficking victims.
Shamere’s compelling narrative, rooted in her lived experiences with sex trafficking, has been featured in several books, documentaries, and media outlets, serving as an impactful educational tool. Her most recent documentary, “False Promises,” released in 2018 on the island of Aruba, specifically addresses sex trafficking awareness among Caribbean youth.
In 2015, Shamere graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She actively contributes to various boards, advisory boards, and speaker’s bureaus, garnering numerous awards in recognition of her outstanding work.
Shamere’s unwavering determination, passion for success, and her faith in Jesus Christ serve as guiding principles, reinforcing her commitment to the cause. Refusing to be labeled a victim or survivor, she proudly identifies as a liberator – breaking free from the chains of her past to pave the way for others who have endured enslavement.
Workshop: What Needs to be Done? Pt 2
A5: Prosecution
This session will incorporate the learnings on vulnerabilities and systemic gaps from previous sessions to brainstorm practical next steps in improving prosecution in the region.
Mario Cordero Vejar
Facilitator
Officer under the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section,
UNODC’s Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean
Bio
Mr. Mario Cordero Véjar currently serves as a Programme Officer under the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section for UNODC’s Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean based in Panama City. Mario has over 13 years working in the international arena on topics related to organized crime and drugs, particularly in the field of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Prior to joining UNODC’s Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean, he worked for six years at UNODC Mexico on a wide array of topics such as criminal investigation of high impact-crimes, gender-based violence, environmental crimes, border management, drug trafficking, drug use prevention and treatment, as well as trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. As part of his endeavors, and alongside his team, he provided assistance to over 480 victims of trafficking in persons by building capacity for staff of specialized shelters that tend to survivors of this crime and developed a massive awareness-raising campaign on trafficking in persons and reaching 11 million passengers. This campaign allowed for 6 victims to be rescued from airplanes and 4 cases to be prosecuted by authorities.
For the past years he has focused on building partnerships-particularly with the private sector (such as UBER, AIRBNB, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter)-; enhancing South-South cooperation; and incorporating an intersectional approach in project design implementation and monitoring. Before joining UNODC he worked for five years at an international NGO focusing on local peacebuilding, crime prevention and rule of law in the country’s most dangerous regions. He has also worked in the private sector and as a journalist. His academic background is in communications, international cooperation for development, victim assistance and criminal justice. Mario is native in Spanish, fluent in English and French.
Workshop: What Needs to be Done? Pt 2
A5: Partnership
This session will incorporate the learnings on vulnerabilities and systemic gaps from previous sessions to brainstorm practical next steps in improving Partnerships in the region.
Cherisse Francis
Facilitator
Attorney at law
Doctoral Candidate researching Trafficking in persons
Bio
Ms. Cherisse Francis is a native of the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. Although she now considers herself to be an educator and researcher Cherisse began her career as a legal professional having graduated from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and the University of Aberdeen with a Master of Laws (Distinction). Cherisse also attended the Hugh Wooding Law School where she completed her Legal Education Certificate on the Principal’s Honour Roll and was subsequently called to the Barbadian legal bar in 2018. Throughout her educational pursuits, Cherisse remained committed to the pursuit of human rights through academia and her volunteering activities. After her LLM, Cherisse spent a short time as an intern at the United Nations Office for Barbados and the OECS before accepting a position with the Human Trafficking Institute (HTI). From 2019 to 2020 Cherisse was employed by the HTI as Judicial Research Assistant to the designated Trafficking in Persons Judge in the Belizean High Court. In this role she was involved in legal writing and research as well as training activities for state and non-state actors both in Belize and across the Caribbean. These experiences led Cherisse to pursue her PhD studies examining the culture, history, discourses and law surrounding anti-trafficking in the Anglophone Caribbean at the University of Warwick, UK which she submitted in January 2024. Since becoming a part of the regional anti-trafficking field Cherisse has also been involved in numerous consultancies, trainings, and workshops as a facilitator and scholar. At present, Cherisse is a Senior Lecturer (Law) at St.Mary’s University, Twickenham in England where she has taught among other things a course on Organised Crime, Trafficking and Contemporary slavery. She also continues to be engaged in research and serves as a trustee for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (London Office) which has modern slavery as a flagship area.
FACILITATED DISCUSSION
Developing Action Plans for Prevention, Prosecution, Protection & Partnership
Facilitators will lead participants through the process of refining the ideas generated in Workshops A4, B4, A5, and B5 into a regional action plan that addresses vulnerabilities and gaps in the Caribbean anti-trafficking approaches.
Tanisha Williams Corbin
Facilitator
Coordinator, Counter Trafficking in Persons [C-TIP] Unit
Ministry of Social Protection
Bio
Adrian Alexander
Moderator
Advocacy and Movement Building Country Manager
Bio
Adrian Alexander is the Advocacy and Movement Building Country Manager for Free The Slaves based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been privileged to serve as a volunteer with civil society organizations for the past 20 years. For 14 of those years, he has been involved in the fight against human trafficking. Through this work, Adrian is committed to helping shape a more compassionate, trauma-informed Caribbean.
Charmaine Gandhi Andrews
Facilitator
Consultant
Imigration Division
Bio
Charmaine Gandhi-Andrewsserved in Trinidad and Tobago Public Service for thirty-eight years, thirty-two of which was spent as an Immigration Officer in the Ministry of National Security. She became the first female Chief Immigration Officer in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, a position she held until her early retirement from Public Service in January of this year.
Passionate about issues relating to trafficking in persons, Charmaine has been involved in anti-human trafficking activities since 2009. She advocated for and was actively involved in developing and implementing policies and legislation on trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2012 she was appointed as the first Director to lead the establishment of Trinidad and Tobago’s Counter Trafficking Unit and develop and implement the country’s anti-trafficking efforts. She led the investigation, identification, rescue, rehabilitation, and reunification of victims of human trafficking with their families.
The US State Department recognized Charmaine as a hero acting to end modern-day slavery in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. In December 2022, she was honored with the Migrant Hero Award from the International Organization for Migration, Port of Spain office, for her years of dedication and service in the field of migration.
Diahann Gordon Harrison
Panelist
National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Jamaica
Bio
Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since she graduated from The Norman Manley Law School. Before she was appointed Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.
Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School, has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide.
Dailana May
Panelist
Founder/Executive Director, Dark Bali
Bio
Dalaina May, Founder/Executive Director – Dalaina grew up overseas and has lived in 5 countries on 3 continents. When she moved to Indonesia, she finally found her home. She holds a BA in Intercultural Studies from Biola University and a MA in Global Leadership with an emphasis in Children at Risk from Fuller Seminary. After supporting the local staff of a safehouse for trafficked teen girls in Bali, she realized that there was a need for an organization providing similar support for the entire Indonesian anti-trafficking community, and Dark Bali was born.
Fernando Garcia-Robles
Panelist
President, Disabled People’s International North America & The Caribbean Inc.
Bio
Merphilus James is an avid disability rights advocate from the island of Saint Lucia. He has served as President of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) in Saint Lucia since January 2015. In 2019 he was elected President of Disabled People’s International North America and The Caribbean Inc. (DPI NAC) at the Tenth Regional Assembly which was held in Saint Kitts.
Due to an extremely rare condition called Amniotic Band Syndrome, Merphilus was born with differences of his right hand and left leg. He has used a left prosthetic leg from the age of four. James is passionate about the advancement of persons with disabilities through education, social justice and empowerment, harnessing the innate talents of PWDs in advocacy and public awareness.
Merphilus James has held positions in the public service as a Programme Officer and National Volunteer Coordinator in the Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is currently a Training Officer with the National Skills Development Center where he cherishes his involvement in the education of youth in invaluable, marketable technical vocational skills.
Major projects currently being undertaken under James’ leadership in Saint Lucia are prosthetic leg manufacturing, mobility aid distribution, climate resilience aquaponics for persons with disabilities and community-based rehabilitation.
2024 Caribbean Forum Planning Committee
Dr Jason Haynes
Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies
University of the Birmingham, UK
Dr Jason Haynes's Bio
Dr Jason Haynes is an attorney-at-law of over 7 years, having been called to the Bar of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. At present, he is an Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He served as a Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission in Barbados for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. In this capacity, he worked on a range of matters, including human trafficking.
He has consulted on the issue of human trafficking for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, and the Caribbean Community. On the issue of migrant smuggling, he has consulted for the International Organisation for Migration (Caribbean). He has advised a range of regional and international actors on human trafficking, including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Free the Slaves, CARICOM IMPACTS, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and has drafted sentencing guidelines on human trafficking for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He has written a book (Hart Publishing) on human trafficking, as well as several journal articles in international peer-reviewed journals.
He has a First Class Honours LLB degree (University of the West Indies), a LLM with Distinction (University of Nottingham), a MSc (University of Oxford), and a PhD (Durham University). He is a Chevening Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at McGill University, an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, UK, and the Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. His work on human trafficking won the 2022 UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean.
MERPHILUS JAMES
President
Disabled People’s International North America & The Caribbean Inc.
Merphilus James's Bio
Merphilus James is an avid disability rights advocate from the island of Saint Lucia. He has served as President of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) in Saint Lucia since January 2015. In 2019 he was elected President of Disabled People’s International North America and The Caribbean Inc. (DPI NAC) at the Tenth Regional Assembly which was held in Saint Kitts.
Due to an extremely rare condition called Amniotic Band Syndrome, Merphilus was born with differences of his right hand and left leg. He has used a left prosthetic leg from the age of four. James is passionate about the advancement of persons with disabilities through education, social justice and empowerment, harnessing the innate talents of PWDs in advocacy and public awareness.
Merphilus James has held positions in the public service as a Programme Officer and National Volunteer Coordinator in the Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is currently a Training Officer with the National Skills Development Center where he cherishes his involvement in the education of youth in invaluable, marketable technical vocational skills.
Major projects currently being undertaken under James’ leadership in Saint Lucia are prosthetic leg manufacturing, mobility aid distribution, climate resilience aquaponics for persons with disabilities and community-based rehabilitation.
Sandra Christie Brown
Founder
Finding Your Light Foundation, Inc.
Sandra Christie Brown's Bio
Sandra Christie Brown is the founder of the Finding Your Light Foundation, Inc. focusing on mental health. She is a member of Metropolitan Dade County Section-NCNW, Inc. (MDCS-NCNW) and served two terms as President. Sandra led the Section to new heights in membership, scholarships, partnerships, and community empowerment. The Section adopted the Bethune Head Start School; partnered with the City of Miami’s Health/Resource Fair; Bethune Cookman University’s Miami Dade Alumni Chapter and National Organization of Black Law Enforcement’s (NOBLE) Annual Holiday Toys Giveaway; and Tallahassee Florida group against Human Trafficking Education Bill. MDCS awarded $1,000 scholarships to seniors attending HBCUs; held Voter Education Workshops kicking-off “Four for The Future.” Sandra introduced the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Vegetable Garden “Plant, Grow, and Eat,” and facilitated the Dr. Dorothy I. Height Forever Black Heritage Stamp Dedication. Sandra has served as NCNW National Executive Board Member-at- Large from 2014-present and was appointed September 2020 by Dr. Johnnetta Cole as NCNW National Chair Human Trafficking Committee
Memberships: NAACP.; National Organization Black Law Enforcement Executives, Toastmasters International; Women’s Chamber of Commerce; Bethune Cookman University Miami-Dade Alumni Chapter-Honorary Member; The People Profile former Executive Director, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; and Board Member-Foundation of Community Assistance & Leadership.
Honors: Maverley Primary School Wellness Center in honor of Sandra Christie Brown 2023, The People Profile Corporate Leader of the Year 2020.MDCS-NCNW Dr. Dorothy I. Height Leadership Award 2016, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Distinguished Award 2018; and 2016 NOBLE South Florida Chapter Sector Member of the Year.
Sandra attended Miami Dade College and majored in Business Administration. A 31-year career Insurance and finance, she is an Insurance Broker with Access Life and holds a FL 2-15 License in FL, GA, MD, SC, NC, OH, MI, TX, Life, Health, and Variable Annuities.
Ms. Cherisse Francis
Attorney at law
Doctoral Candidate researching Trafficking in persons
Cherisse Francis's Bio
Ms. Cherisse Francis is a native of the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. Although she now considers herself to be an educator and researcher Cherisse began her career as a legal professional having graduated from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and the University of Aberdeen with a Master of Laws (Distinction). Cherisse also attended the Hugh Wooding Law School where she completed her Legal Education Certificate on the Principal’s Honour Roll and was subsequently called to the Barbadian legal bar in 2018. Throughout her educational pursuits, Cherisse remained committed to the pursuit of human rights through academia and her volunteering activities. After her LLM, Cherisse spent a short time as an intern at the United Nations Office for Barbados and the OECS before accepting a position with the Human Trafficking Institute (HTI). From 2019 to 2020 Cherisse was employed by the HTI as Judicial Research Assistant to the designated Trafficking in Persons Judge in the Belizean High Court. In this role she was involved in legal writing and research as well as training activities for state and non-state actors both in Belize and across the Caribbean. These experiences led Cherisse to pursue her PhD studies examining the culture, history, discourses and law surrounding anti-trafficking in the Anglophone Caribbean at the University of Warwick, UK which she submitted in January 2024. Since becoming a part of the regional anti-trafficking field Cherisse has also been involved in numerous consultancies, trainings, and workshops as a facilitator and scholar. At present, Cherisse is a Senior Lecturer (Law) at St.Mary’s University, Twickenham in England where she has taught among other things a course on Organised Crime, Trafficking and Contemporary slavery. She also continues to be engaged in research and serves as a trustee for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (London Office) which has modern slavery as a flagship area.
Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews
Consultant
Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews's Bio
Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews served in Trinidad and Tobago Public Service for thirty-eight years, thirty-two of which was spent as an Immigration Officer in the Ministry of National Security. She became the first female Chief Immigration Officer in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, a position she held until her early retirement from Public Service in January of this year.
Passionate about issues relating to trafficking in persons, Charmaine has been involved in anti-human trafficking activities since 2009. She advocated for and was actively involved in developing and implementing policies and legislation on trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2012 she was appointed as the first Director to lead the establishment of Trinidad and Tobago’s Counter Trafficking Unit and develop and implement the country’s anti-trafficking efforts. She led the investigation, identification, rescue, rehabilitation, and reunification of victims of human trafficking with their families.
The US State Department recognized Charmaine as a hero acting to end modern-day slavery in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. In December 2022, she was honored with the Migrant Hero Award from the International Organization for Migration, Port of Spain office, for her years of dedication and service in the field of migration.
Coleen Morris
Anti-Human Trafficking Officer
Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons (ONRTIP)
Coleen Morris's Bio
Ms. Coleen Morris is the Anti-Human Trafficking Officer for the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons (ONRTIP). She supports the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons and the Senior Anti-Human Trafficking Officer in research, policymaking, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of strategies geared towards enabling the mitigation and reduction of Human Trafficking in Jamaica. Ms. Morris plays a key role in the development of initiatives geared towards enabling survivors and vulnerable groups to understand the normative and regulatory framework surrounding the issue of human trafficking and monitors and reports on the nature and scope of human trafficking in Jamaica, including for the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report. She holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Psychology and a Master of Science (MSc.) in Applied Psychology. She has years of experience playing various roles in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of data for various stakeholders.
Diahann Gordon Harrison
National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons
Jamaica
Diahann Gordon Harrison's Bio
Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since she graduated from The Norman Manley Law School. Before she was appointed Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.
Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School, has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide.
Neil Bacchus
Chief Executive Officer
Indigenous Peoples’ Commission
Neil Bacchus's Bio
Neil Bacchus is the Chief Executive Officer of the Indigenous Peoples’ Commission which promotes and protects the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana. He has double master’s qualifications, professional qualifications in project management, and a degree and diploma in Public Management. Neil serves on several NGOs, including the National Task Force on Trafficking in Person and the Inter-religious Organisation in Guyana. He is a community, religious, and youth advocate. He has over twenty-eight years of working experience and possesses excellent logistical, training, and operational skills. Neil has recently completed a Fellowship Program in Religious Dialogue and culture and is committed to moving Guyana and the Caribbean forward.
Rene M. Baptiste
Managing partner
Baptiste & Co.
Rene M. Baptiste's Bio
René Mercedes Baptiste CMG is a distinguished legal and political figure, renowned for her groundbreaking contributions in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. With a career spanning over four decades, she has earned accolades as a Barrister, Solicitor, Notary Public, and Certified Mediator. René made history as the first female lawyer elected to the Parliament of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2001, a testament to her trailblazing spirit and dedication to advancing gender equality in the legal and political arenas.
René’s illustrious legal career began when she was called to the Bar of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 1976. She played a pivotal role in shaping the Offshore Finance Sector, establishing and managing its regulatory framework from 1976 to 1986. In 1986, she founded Baptiste & Co. Law Firm, where her expertise in Corporate, Commercial, Family, Probate, and Property Law has garnered widespread recognition.
René served two terms in Parliament from 2001 to 2010, holding senior cabinet positions in Tourism, Culture, Urban Development, Labour, and Electoral Matters. Currently, she serves as the esteemed Speaker of the OECS Parliamentary Assembly, embodying her commitment to regional cooperation and governance.
René has served as President of the SVG Bar Association and held leadership roles in various community organizations, including the SVG Girls Guide Association, Ste. George’s Cathedral Parish, SVG Red Cross Society, and the General Employees Co-operative Credit Union. A passionate advocate for women’s empowerment and youth development, René serves as a patron of the SVG Netball Association and Brownie Sports.
René Mercedes Baptiste CMG remains actively engaged in professional affiliations, including membership in the UWI Advisory Council Global Campus – SVG, OCCBA, OECS Bar Association, and Commonwealth Lawyers Association. As the Co-Chair of the ADR Committee ECLA, she continues to champion alternative dispute resolution mechanisms for the betterment of society.
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