22 February 2021
St Helena Governments (SHG) UK Representative, Kedell Worboys MBE, has recently stepped down from her role as Chair of the UK Overseas Territories Organisation (UKOTA), a position she held for two years.
As well as managing St Helena’s portfolio, two years as Chair of UKOTA saw Kedell participate and attend in many discussions and meetings on the impact of Brexit on the Overseas Territories (OTs).
During this period there was also significant engagement with UK Parliamentarians with Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) breakfast meetings being held to enable Kedell and other UK Representatives to meet with Parliamentarians and directly address the key issues facing the OTs.
As Chair of UKOTA, Kedell attended high-level meetings including with the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, MP, and a meeting in Parliament with the Rt. Hon Lord Goldsmith and interested MPs and Peers on environmental funding for the OTs – this was also relevant with Kedell being the Chair of the UKOTA Environment Working Group.
Much of Kedell’s time as UKOTA Chair was also spent preparing for the two Political Council Meetings – one in the Cayman Islands and one done virtually – as well as the JMC meeting held in November at which the Prime Minister and HRH The Prince of Wales spoke.
Kedell commented:
“One of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic was changing the way in which we worked. Meetings are now usually held virtually either by Zoom or Teams. I was intensely involved with the Mental Health webinar in December that was held via Teams with 100 participants joining from all the OTs including St Helena.”
As Chair, Kedell joined the Project Management Board for the UK Overseas Territories Project – Phase II (UKOTP – Phase II). Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the project is managed and delivered by the CPA UK Branch as the lead agency, in consortium with the UK National Audit Office (NAO) and the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA).
Kedell concluded:
“I will continue in my role as Chair of the UKOTA Environment Working Group. With COP 26 due to take place in November this year it is important that the achievements of the OTs are recognised. I sit on the Project Steering Board for the Overseas Territories Biosecurity Project and am a member of the Overseas Working Group of the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership which will oversee the delivery of a marine climate change assessment for the UK OTs. I will also represent the OTs with Professor John Cortes, Gibraltar Minister, covering Environment at the high-level Wilton Park dialogue on ‘Nature, Adaptation and Resilience: COP 26 – One Earth, one future’.”
Congratulations are extended to Kedell for her time as Chair of UKOTA.
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SHG
22 February 2021