Jamaica has been elected to the powerful 36-member Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the triennium 2022-2025.
The elections took place during the 41st ICAO Assembly being held at the Organization’s headquarters in Montreal, Canada from September 27 to October 7.
Transport and Mines Minister Audley Shaw, who heads Jamaica’s delegation to the assembly, has described the country’s election to the council as “a crucial one for the nation and the region”.
Shaw claimed that this will provide a platform for more uniform and inclusive participation in aviation discussions and development in all regions.
“This will be achieved through greater and more strategic representation of our unique needs and circumstances, as well as introducing unique, dynamic and new perspectives that can regenerate, further stabilize and help grow the aviation sector,” he said. he.
The Minister emphasized that Jamaica sees its role as increasingly important as the country positions itself to support the necessary acceleration of the aviation industry’s key development and sustainability priorities.
For his part, the Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Nari Williams-Singh, indicated that the election “demonstrated Jamaica’s significant and ongoing contribution to the field of civil aviation”.
Furthermore, he said it is indicative of “our commitment to support the promotion of international standards that ensure uncompromising safety, efficiency, security and environmental sustainability within the region and beyond.
“Election to the ICAO Council gives us the opportunity to ensure that the needs of small island developing states (SIDS) like Jamaica are heard and taken into account in the development of aviation policy,” said the director general.
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“We can continue to make our positive contribution to the field of aviation, especially at a time when our industry is coming out of a very difficult period,” he added.
Jamaica’s election to Part III of the council, made up of states that provide geographic representation, is expected to be of strategic importance to the island, the Caribbean, other SIDS, as well as Least Developed States (LDS), globally.
The elections are important, given the council’s key role in providing guidance for ICAO’s work as an international aviation oversight body, assuming responsibility for standards adoption and the organization’s other governance commitments, when the 193-member assembly members is not in session.
The Council, a permanent body of ICAO that provides ongoing direction to the organization’s work, is elected by the assembly every three years. Jamaica has been a member state of ICAO since 1963 and represented the English-speaking Caribbean on the council from 1977 to 1986.
