DR. ASHA Singh has been today presented with a Leadership Achievement Award in Sustainable Development by the World Women Leadership Congress.
The award honours the outstanding leadership and achievements demonstrated by women leaders which are reflected by the distinct innovations and initiatives to improve the lives of citizens across the world.
She is the first national from Latin America and the Caribbean to receive such an award from this international body.
Dr. Singh holds a PhD, in Policy and Management from the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom. She is a citizen of Guyana and has given service to the wider Caribbean region and the world. Having started her career as a teacher in 1989 in Guyana, she currently serves as Head, Ocean Governance Unit, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Saint Lucia.
Dr. Singh’s employment portfolio includes a number of assignments that span developmental work and environmental and marine research in the Caribbean, North America, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in general and in the United Kingdom. Over the last two decades, Dr. Singh has consistently maintained her relevance in the industry by becoming certified in a range of short term courses. In addition to her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees, she is currently pursuing a Law Degree with the University of London.
She has released many consultancy reports that bear testimony to her contribution to knowledge expression across Latin America and the Caribbean and has, through peer review publications, added to world knowledge and intellectual property through her original and thought provoking insight in multiple scientific publications. Her writings and collaborations span 16 years of her career, from as early as 2001.
Throughout her career, Dr. Singh has been the recipient of various accolades. In 2009, she was the recipient of a United Nations International Seabed Authority Scholarship to undertake training in the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea held in Greece. In 2008, she received the United Nations/Nippon Foundation Research Fellowship to undertake research on Ocean Governance and from 1998, she was the four time recipient of the McArthur Foundation Academic Bursary to undertake post-graduate studies.
Apart from her work, she also has a strong passion for literacy and has recently started a book collection drive to support greater readership in prisons. She says reform with reading is an idea she strongly believes in and sees it as necessary to deal with some of the growing social problems in the region.
Dr. Singh says she is humbled and happy by this recognition, and dedicates this award to the many unsung professionals who are constantly and diligently striving to ensure that the environment is seen as the bedrock/driver of our development pathway.