Ambassador Dennis Francis has a career of approximately 40 years in the Diplomatic Service of Trinidad and Tobago, for 18 of which he held the rank of Ambassador, until his mandatory retirement from career service in 2016.
He graduated from the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University in Washington DC. (1985).
Before leaving his position as Director of Multilateral Relations, he served as Senior Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on all multilateral issues.
He was appointed as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, as well as Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to the UN Human Rights Council.
He was also simultaneously accredited to the UN Specialized Agencies in Vienna and Rome, had bilateral accreditation as Ambassador to Austria and Italy, and was appointed Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (Unesco).
He took an active interest in the issues before the International Seabed Authority, which led to his election to the Presidency of the Assembly in 2003.
Ambassador Francis co-facilitated a training course titled “Protocol and Diplomacy: A Guide for the Modern Professional,” at the Caribbean Diplomatic Academy, an institution in the conceptualization of which he was intimately involved as Principal Technical Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
His assignment in Geneva in 2006 followed a seven-year tour of duty as Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner to Jamaica and Permanent Representative to the International Seabed Authority. During this period, he was accredited as Ambassador (non-resident) to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.
He served as Chairman of the Committee on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights at its regular session, and was Chairman of the Commonwealth Developing Countries Group (2007/8).
In 2010 he was elected to chair the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules, namely Anti-Dumping, Subsidies and Countervailing Duties and Fisheries Subsidies.
He has led many national delegations, including to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 12, held in Accra, Ghana, in 2008; and in the First Universal Periodic Review of Trinidad and Tobago, at the UN Human Rights Council, in October 2011.
Additionally, in 2018, the Ambassador co-authored a book titled “Heads of Mission: A Handbook,” which has received regional and international praise.
In 2020 he returned to the University of the West Indies, as a visiting scholar at the Institute of International Relations, St. Augustine Campus.
In July 2021, he completed a three-year assignment as Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO.
