Caption: Mrs. Joan Thomas Edwards, appointed as Jamaica’s new High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa
Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, announces the appointment of Mrs. Joan Thomas Edwards as Jamaica’s new High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa.
High Commissioner-designate Thomas Edwards is a career diplomat and a member of the Jamaican Foreign Service for over thirty-three years. She is currently the Under-Secretary with responsibility for the Foreign Trade Division in the Ministry.
In making the announcement, Minister Johnson Smith noted that, “As an experienced diplomat, Mrs Thomas Edwards has acquired expertise in the areas of foreign trade, multilateral, bilateral, and regional affairs. I am confident that she will use the opportunity of this new assignment to strengthen the bonds of friendship and cooperation between Jamaica and the Republic of South Africa, as well as the rest of the Southern and East African regions.”
Mrs Thomas Edwards served as Deputy High Commissioner at the Jamaican High Commission in London, Acting High Commissioner at the Jamaican High Commission in Pretoria, Counsellor/Alternate Representative to the United Nations, New York, and concurrently to the United Nations Security Council, and First Secretary/Consul at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, DC. She has also participated in short term assignments with the United Nations Mission to Angola as a Human Rights Officer, and the Financial Intelligence Unit for Belize, Central America, as Senior Legal Officer.
Mrs Thomas Edwards holds a master’s degree in public policy from American University in Washington, DC, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the West Indies. She was called to the Bar in Jamaica and Belize.
A past student of Excelsior High School, Kingston, she is married with three children.
The High Commissioner-designate is expected to assume duties for April 1, 2023. She will have jurisdiction for Jamaica’s relations with 18 countries in the Southern and East African regions.
