H.E. Mr. Douglas Slater
Assistant Secretary General Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat
Dr. Douglas Wilbert Slater assumed the position of Assistant Secretary-General, Directorate of Human and Social Development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat on 1 October 2013.
A national of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and a Medical Doctor by profession, Dr. Slater was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Consumer Affairs of St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 2010-2013. In that capacity, he also served as representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the ACP-EU Parliamentarians Group, and as alternate for the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Authorities.
Dr. Slater served as Minister of Health and the Environment, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and was the CARICOM Minister of Health designated to negotiate the regional approach with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) during the establishment of the GF. He also served as Chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)/Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM). Dr. Slater was also honoured by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat as one of the CARICOM’s first Champion for Change.
As Minister of Environment, Dr. Slater was actively involved in the UN Climate Change and Sustainable Development negotiations at the political and technical levels; leading discussions on renewable energy as one of the critical factors for sustainable economic development in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Region as a whole during 2001-2010.
Additionally, Dr. Slater was Chair of the Executive Committee of PAHO and was involved in discussions regarding the now established Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). He has participated in numerous regional conferences on public health issues and initiated and led the successful implementation of the managed migration of registered nurses.
Prior to these assignments, Dr. Slater was an Opposition Senator and Committee Member of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Political Party; actively involved in formulating policy issues including St. Vincent’s now successful “Education Revolution”. As a result, St. Vincent has achieved universal secondary education in a very short period of time beyond the expectations of International Organisations involved in this field.
Early in his career he served as a Public Health Physician in several communities in Jamaica during the emergence of HIV as a regional and global health challenge, and contributed significantly to revamping the immunization practices that resulted in improved coverage. He went on to the posting of Public Health Physician in a UNDP/USAID/Government of Jamaica Typhoid Control Project. The project succeeded in controlling the spread of typhoid.
Subsequently, he was appointed Medical Officer of Health of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and focal point person for HIV/AIDS. He has served in other senior management positions of the government guiding national health policy issues during the emergence of the HIV/AIDS disease. He has also served as Disaster Coordinator for the Ministry of Health within the National Disaster Management System where he functioned as Co-Manager in National Stimulation Exercises.
Dr. Slater has also been a Part-time lecturer in a Drug Addiction Course offered by the UWI local campus and gave several public lectures on various topics.