Ronald Sanders assumes chairmanship of OAS Permanent Council

Saint John, Antigua and Barbuda: Ronald Sanders assumed the chairmanship of OAS Permanent Council. He is the admirable Permanent Representative of the Antigua and Barbuda to the Organization of American States (OAS). 

He is supposed to hold this valuable position until December 31, 2023.

The official ceremony to honour Ronald Sanders was held in Washington, DC, at the OAS Headquarters. During the ceremony, Ambassador Sanders reflected on his views on the significance of the rotating chair. 

He encouraged the Member States of OAS to manifest the spirit of cooperation and collaborative efforts to pursue the shared objectives of each other.

He further added that whoever chairs the Permanent Council brings different and unique qualities to the task. However, they need to work for the same objective and should do every work in a smooth manner. A person should be amicable and pleasant in nature to build as much consensus as possible.

About Ronald Sanders

Ronald Michael Sanders is a Diplomat from Antigua and Barbuda who formerly served as a broadcast- journalist. He recently chaired the OAS Permanent Council and serves as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the US and to the Organization of the American States. 

He is also a non-resident High Commissioner to Canada since 2017 and served twice as the Ambassador and Negotiator to WTO and Antigua’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. 

He is a senior researcher at the University of London at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. He has been a speaker at various conferences and conventions on global financial services issues. 

Other Member States of OAS

Antigua and Barbuda witnessed the transition of taking over the steering gear from Jamaica. Initially, in the absence of Audrey Marks- the Permanent Representative to the OAS, Roberto Quesada- Ambassador of Honduras, took charge of the outgoing Vice Chair through a formal transfer.

The council welcomed Leon Charles- Ambassador of Haiti, as a new Vice Chair. Both the Ambassadors, Ambassador Charles and Ambassador Sanders, will wind up their respective terms at the end of December.

The Chair of the Permanent Council goes through a rotation every three months to keep itself with OAS tradition. The rotation takes place by following the alphabetical order of the member states.

However, the Vice-Chair rotates in the reverse alphabetical sequence to ensure equal leadership and representation opportunities for the member states.