Dr. Gillian Smith is the FAO Representative in Guyana since December 2018, and holds a PhD in Marine Science from the University of the West Indies. She has worked in fisheries management and aquaculture, Quality Management, and has more than 25 years of experience in project and programme management.
Dr Smith has worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for over 10 years, leading programme development and implementation in several countries of the Caribbean, engaging with governments and other stakeholders in a wide range of areas covered by the Organization and in alignment with national and regional priorities. Dr Smith has also worked at the sub-regional and regional level of the FAO, developing Country Programming Frameworks and supporting the design of FAO’s Caribbean sub-regional priorities, and worked on initiatives to enhance alignment and synergies between the Caribbean and Latin American work programme.
Dr Smith is committed to promoting sustainable approaches to development, recognizing and respecting the views and aspirations of all stakeholders (especially the voiceless and most vulnerable) in the development process. Her abiding interest is to continue active engagement in development, ensuring that equity and social justice inform choices and responses. She is confident that people have within themselves an often unexplored capacity for doing better.