14th
July 2012
First Woman Chairperson
to the International Whaling Commission
MRS. JEANNINE COMPTON-ANTOINE
On 6th July
2012, in Panama City, Panama, at the annual
meeting of the International Whaling Commission
(IWC), Mrs. Jeannine Compton-Antoine was nominated
by consensus to serve as Chairperson of the
IWC. Mrs. Compton-Antoine is the first woman
to hold this position and only the second from
the OECS member states. She first represented
St. Lucia at the meetings of the Commission,
as a Scientist in 1999 when it was held in Grand
Anse, Grenada. Since then, she has been attending
the meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary
bodies every year, with the exception of the
years 2000 and 2011. During her tenure, she
has held the positions of scientist, alternate
Commissioner and then St. Lucia’s Commissioner
from 2008-2011. Mrs. Compton-Antoine was re-appointed
to the position of Commissioner in 2012.
The IWC was
set up under the International Convention for
the Regulation of Whaling which was signed in
Washington DC on 2nd December 1946, to provide
for the proper conservation of whale stocks
and thus make possible the orderly development
of the whaling industry. St. Lucia joined the
IWC in 1981 and is among 89 member countries
that make up the membership of the Commission. |
