Dr. Jason Haynes Wins Prestigious UNESCO Award

Dr. Jason Haynes

Wins Prestigious UNESCO Award

Dr. Jason Haynes, Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) in the Faculty of Law at Cave Hill, has become the first person in an English-speaking country to be awarded the prestigious UNESCO/Juan

Bosch Prize for the Promotion of Social Science

Research in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, named the Senior Lecturer in Law as only the fourth laureate to be awarded the prize which is granted every two years for outstanding research in social science that contributes to strengthening links between research and public policies. The three previous awardees were from Columbia and Bolivia. Dr. Haynes’s body of work on human trafficking that dates back to 2012, along with submissions of other nominees, was assessed by an international jury which made the recommendation to the DirectorGeneral.

“Sometimes you are nominated for things, but [you] aren’t quite sure that you will get through as you’re up against hundreds of other scholars. The fact that no person from an English-speaking country had won it before made it slightly daunting. However, I was confident in the quality of my work, and I thought that the international jury would at least have positive things to say about my work even if I didn’t win,” said Dr. Haynes who was notified of the award in late January.

As a youth, Dr. Haynes’s interest in human trafficking was piqued by images of exploited men, women, girls, and boys portrayed in movies. He wanted to help but had no idea how to go about doing that. He was further motivated while serving as an intern in the Office of the Attorney General in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2011 when he got the opportunity to sit on a committee that reviewed the proposed Trafficking in Persons Act.

“I was flabbergasted by the number of people who were subject to exploitation globally. I felt a strong sense that I ought to be a part of the fight against human trafficking, even if only to ensure that victims are identified and protected. I was like, ‘I’m going to write a research proposal on this’. I was at Cave Hill finishing my undergraduate degree in 2011

when I wrote the PhD proposal. I then went off to do my Master’s in late 2011 and then began the PhD in 2012, which I finished in 2015. I’ve continued research in the area.”

Since then, his research interest has led him to work with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the British Institution

of International and Comparative

Law, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the American

Bar Association Rule of Law

Initiative, the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and other organisations and countries, including the United Kingdom in the capacity of Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission, “I was flabbergasted by the number of people who were subject to exploitation Bridgetown, Barbados. Dr. Haynes is a director of the Barbadosbased Caribbean Anti-Human Trafficking Foundation globally. I felt a strong sense that I ought and a special rapporteur to be a part of the fight against human on Contemporary Forms trafficking, even if only to ensure that of Slavery with the victims are identified and protected ..."

International Academy of

Comparative Law. He has authored several peer-reviewed articles, policy papers and books, including

Caribbean Anti-Trafficking Law

and Practice that was published in 2019 by Hart Publishing, Oxford.

“What started as a mere interest has blossomed into something profound and impactful, and I’m just happy that UNESCO saw value in my work and its contribution to social science in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

However, this latest prize, which comes with a monetary award of US $12,000 and a diploma, and which is among the countless awards copped by Dr. Haynes over the years, only tells part of his story that is one of inspiration and perseverance. “I came from abject poverty. Sometimes, I would have only one meal a day. Up until I finished my A-levels at the SVG Community College, I was on public assistance. In most cases, things were given to us because we couldn’t afford to purchase them. My single-parent mother worked on a part-time basis in a menial job but did all that she could to support my sister and I. For me, education was the only way to escape poverty. Over the years, I have used education to propel myself, my family, and the people around me. It is an empowering tool. That is what keeps me going in addition to my faith in God. “I am delighted that my success has inspired others who are in similar circumstances to me. I have learned that it is not the end of the world if you don’t have all the resources at your disposal. If you work hard, are consistent, disciplined, and faithful, you can accomplish whatever you put your mind to. The opportunities that have come my way over the years have been a real blessing.” He went on to receive around two dozen awards and honours, including the Prime Minister’s Award and National Scholarship from St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2008, the British Chevening Scholarship in 2011, the Commonwealth Scholarship in 2012, the Durham

University Teaching and Learning

Award in 2014, the Outstanding

Contribution to Teaching Award

by the Cave Hill Campus in 2019, and an Academic Fellowship from

The Honourable Society of the

Middle Temple in 2021. Dr. Haynes who holds a PhD in International and Comparative Law has taught at Durham Law School and Arden University, both in the United Kingdom, as well as at The UWI, Mona and Cave Hill campuses. He previously served as Secretary General of the

Arbitration and Mediation Court

of the Caribbean and also worked at Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in St. Lucia. To further his work in the area of exploitation,

McGill University

in Canada recently awarded him the O’Brien Fellowship to analyse the relationship between slavery and the slave trade and constitutionalism. Dr. Haynes has hypothesised that laws that facilitated slavery were unconstitutional, being in breach of the unwritten principle of the rule of law that has continuously existed in all civilised nations from time immemorial and that sets an irreducible minimum standard of state conduct. He said that his work on illegitimate laws could significantly strengthen the argument for reparation for descendants of slaves. His research, under the direction of Professor Adelle Blackett at McGill University, is expected to be completed later this year.l