On October 23rd, 2024, Ambassador Beresford-Hill held a meeting with H.E. Ambassador Dennis Francis, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations.
Ambassador Dennis Francis is a seasoned Trinidadian diplomat with nearly 40 years of service, including 18 as an ambassador. He has held key roles, such as Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, WTO, and the UN Human Rights Council, and has chaired significant WTO negotiating groups. He also served as High Commissioner to Jamaica, Permanent Representative to the International Seabed Authority, and Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO. Ambassador Francis co-authored “Heads of Mission-A Handbook” and is a Visiting Scholar at the University of the West Indies. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Buckingham.
Having just ended his one-year term as the president of the General Assembly, Ambassador Francis shared his unique perspective on many current issues. As president, he was deeply involved in the process of understanding and addressing global problems such as conflicts, natural disasters and political crises. Ambassador Francis reflected on the demoralizing effect the constant stream of bad news has on one over time. This prompted a discussion of the need for hope in our current world. Ambassador Francis stated that this element of hope was particularly strong in the young people that he met in his capacity as president of the GA. Ambassador Beresford-Hill echoed this notion, having spent much of his career as an educator.
The conversation then shifted to the Order’s efforts in the Middle East. Ambassador Beresford-Hill gave an outline of the mission of the Holy Family hospital and the Order’s role in facilitating shipments to civilians in Gaza. After a detailing the difficulties of obtaining supplies for either project, the Ambassador then went on to lay out the Order’s aspirations to work with the Venerable Order of St. John and their displaced staff in the region to man mobile clinics, when conditions are more suitable.
This then led to a discussion of the Order’s relation to the United Kingdom. Trinidad and Tobago, as a former British colony, is part of the Commonwealth and thus was very interested in the Order’s recent agreement of official ties with the UK. Ambassador Francis said that Trinidad and Tobago was “at the moment in somewhat of an expansionist mood” as regards diplomatic relations, as they were trying to widen their horizons past their geographical neighbors.
Ambassador Beresford-Hill replied with an explanation of the unique diplomatic situation that the Order finds itself in, a fact that is of interest to a lot of island-nations worried about loss of territory. While this is not an immediate threat to Trinidad and Tobago itself, many of its allies and regional neighbors suffer already, or anticipate suffering from the consequences of sea-level rise.
As examples of the Order’s work in the near vicinity of Trinidad and Tobago, Ambassador Beresford-Hill mentioned our projects in cooperation with Malteser International in Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela.
As the meeting concluded, both ambassadors agreed on the importance of continued dialogue and exploration of collaborative opportunities.
