2 ND GUEST SPEAKER’S BIOGRAPHY

In May of 2022 Diana Locke was appointed Head of Office – Belize at the International Organization for Migration the UN Agency with responsibility for Migration. IOM is the newest agency in the UN System, working to promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals alongside the objectives of the Global Compact on Migration to ensure safe, orderly, dignified and regular migration. Ms. Locke leads IOM Belize team implementing projects which seeks to build capacities in Government, Private Sector and Stakeholders in the field of migration, promote and encourage data collection and analysis to support decisions making and inform policies; as well as highlight and inform matters affecting migration and climate change, and safe voluntary return and reintegration of migrants.

Prior to joining IOM Ms. Locke served as a Career Public Officer in the Government of Belize for 32 years (1988-2020). She worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 28 years in various capacities, serving in Belize’s Diplomatic Offices in Washington and London, thereafter as an Acting Permanent Secretary and later as Director responsible for Bilateral, Protocol and Consular matters.

In 2016 she assumed responsibilities as Director of Immigration and Nationality Services (2 years) prior to the separation of the Departments, and later (2018) as Director of Border Management and Immigration Services (2 years) prior to retirement.

DIANA LOCKE Director, International Organization of Migration, Belize

She was also engaged in public sector reform on special assignment from 2003-2006 as the Head the Public Service Reform (PSR) Secretariat for the Public-Sector Reform Council and spear headed reform initiatives in the Public Service key among them the 2004 Management Audit of the Public Service.

Ms. Locke obtained her Master of Science Degree in Management with specializations in International Business and Human Resource Management from St. Thomas University in Florida, where she also obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management, and she is a graduate of St. Catherine Academy and St. John’s Junior College in Belize. She has had training in diplomacy at the Polytechnic of Central London, UWI Institute of Foreign Relations in Guyana and participated in US International Visitor Programme, Workshops in Management and Control of Emergency Operations, as well as the Commonwealth Executive Program in Public Management for Performance at York University in Canada.

Diana Locke was born in Belize in 1965; she is married and the mother of two children and maintains strong interest in conservation issues and a passion for photography.