WASHINGTON, DC – Bahamian Shevaun Culmer is “very proud” to be the new Program Manager at the Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), the antiterrorism arm of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Culmer assumes the post at a time when The Bahamas is serving as the Vice Chair of the CICTE, and also head of the Working Group tasked with preparing for the Tenth Regular Session of the CICTE (CICTE X).
She comes to the post after having interned in Bolivia with Partners of The Americas this summer, and having spent part of February 2009 developing policy proposals for the government in Senegal as part of an elite student group. She has also studied in Spain and the Dominican Republic.
Culmer, 23, this year completed a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. During her schooling, in addition to the litany of experiences cited above, Culmer was a Charles Rangel Scholar and interned with the United States Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Asked to define her state of mind after having secured the CICTE position, Culmer said: “Excited, anxious and ready to go.”
In addition to her newly minted Public Policy degree, Culmer has a Bachelors Degree in Spanish and International Studies.
The Bahamas has proposed to the CICTE that governments in the region ought to work to leverage the economic and innovative power of the private sector for counterterrorism efforts in the Western Hemisphere through public/private partnerships.
As a theme for CICTE X, The Bahamas has proposed “Public-Private Partnerships In The Fight Against Terrorism.”
It is expected that this theme will “engender lively and productive discussion and further the dialogue on this potentially critical tool in our hemispheric counter terrorism arsenal.”
The election occurred at the first of three scheduled preparatory meetings designed to smooth the path to the CICTE meeting scheduled for March 17 – 19, 2010. The Bahamas will serve as Vice Chair of the CICTE until March 2010, and then take over chairmanship of the committee.
The working group now chaired by The Bahamas is responsible for drafting of the documents that will be presented and approved at the CICTE meeting next March.
WASHINGTON, DC – Bahamian Shevaun Culmer is “very proud” to be the new Program Manager at the Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), the antiterrorism arm of the Organization of American States (OAS).