President of the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT), Professor Rose Marie Belle Antoine has been appointed to a senior position within the global coordinating body of the prestigious International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).
Professor Antoine was appointed to serve on the IPPF’s Board of Trustees, London, in September 2021, after being voted in by the IPPF’s Governing Council. She has over three (3) decades of service and experience in sexual and reproductive health rights as a consultant and advisor to governments, international organizations and NGOs. This led to her being invited to serve the FPATT as President, a position she has held since 2015.
Professor Antoine is an attorney, award-winning scholar, author, international legal consultant, and former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies (UWI). She is a former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, (IACHR), Washington, an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS). She also previously served as the Inaugural Head of the Special Unit on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the IACHR, Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples, Rapporteur for Persons of African Descent and Against Discrimination, OAS and Chair of the CARICOM Commission on Marijuana.
In August 2021, Professor Antoine joined the Executive Management Team at UWI, with her appointment as Pro-Vice Chancellor of Graduate Studies and Research, serving all five (5) campuses.
With the appointment of a skills-based Board of Trustees to govern the IPPF internationally, Professor Antoine is expected to bring her leadership and legal expertise to bear to promote the goals of sexual and reproductive health and the right of individuals to make their own health choices around the world. She will continue to serve as the President of the FPATT.
FPATT extends congratulations to Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine on her latest appointment, and we expect that she will put to good use at the international level of the IPPF, the experience, expertise, leadership, enthusiasm and vigour that she has brought to our national and regional struggle for sexual and reproductive rights. We are excited by this representation and look forward to continued partnerships with the IPPF in our mission to deliver quality sexual and reproductive healthcare to all, especially the most vulnerable and those in need, as we work to fulfill the sustainable development goals.
October 11th 2021