President Wavel Ramkalawan received Ambassador Ronny Jumeau, High Commissioner Derick Ally and High Commissioner Marie-Antoinette Rose-Quatre for a farewell courtesy call at State House yesterday morning. Also present was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Mr Sylvestre Radegonde and the Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Dr Marina Confait.

On behalf of Government and the people of Seychelles, President Ramkalawan thanked them for their important contributions, dedications and loyal service over the many years that they worked for the Government. Though leaving the Public Sector, the President expressed his wish that they extend their support and knowledge for the greater good of their country.

“I would like to thank all of you for the service you have given to your country, I am proud of you all. Though, I would have preferred for all three of you to be in posts. I am convinced that with your wealth of knowledge and experience you can still play an important role whenever required in the domain of diplomacy and in other areas with your expertise,” said the President.

The meeting was also an opportunity for them to share their experiences, key achievements and future plans.

Ambassador Jumeau started his career as a journalist in 1978, rising to Chief Editor of the Seychelles Agence Presse news agency and Seychelles Nation daily newspaper. He became Secretary to the Cabinet in the Office of the President of Seychelles in 1992 before holding several ministerial posts from 1998 to 2007. The last was Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, which included responsibility for climate change, conservation, water, forestry, agriculture and fisheries.

Ambassador Jumeau was Seychelles’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador to the United States and High Commissioner to Canada for the first time from 2007 to 2012. He was also Ambassador to Brazil, Cuba and several Caribbean islands.

From 2012 to 2017 he was the country’s New York-based roving Ambassador or Ambassador at large for Climate Change and Small Island Developing State (SIDS) Issues, which included specialising in the ocean, sustainable development, island resilience and renewable energy, among others.

Mr Jumeau was Chief Spokesperson of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) from 2012 to 2014. Amb Jumeau represented small island developing states on the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the world’s largest fund dedicated to helping developing countries address climate change. He was also Chairman of the Executive Council of SIDS DOCK, the SIDS global sustainable energy and climate resilience organisation.

He represented the President o fSeychelles on the Board of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) and was Chair of the GLISPA Steering Committee from 2013 to 2015.

High Commissioner Ally started his career as a mathematics teacher in 1991-1994. He followed on in diplomacy as a Head of Protocol in 1995 and since then he have held several posts. From 2004 to 2005 he worked in the President’s Private Office as a Director General for Presidential Affairsand Chief of Presidential Protocol. In 2005, he became Executive Assistant to the Commonwealth Secretary-General,Secretary-General’s Private Office, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, United Kingdom.

He was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Seychelles 2014 to 2015. He then joined the Seychelles Pension Fund in 2015 as the General Manager, Corporate Services. In 2017 he became the Permanent Representative of Seychelles to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and Representative of Seychelles to the Commonwealth, based in London.

High Commissioner Rose-Quatre has 15 years of work experience in the field of media, communications and politics. She has first-hand experience of several media houses in Seychelles, having spent 5 years with the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) working for both radio & television, and an equal amount of time in the publishing industry. She started her career as a junior reporter at the SBC TV station in 2006.

Following her University studies, where she obtained a degree in Communications Studies and English & Comparative Literature (Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia), Mrs Rose-Quatre was re-employed by the SBC as a senior reporter. In 2001, she joined the, then, Seychelles People’s Progressive Front (SPPF) Secretariat as a communications coordinator and was later promoted as the Editor-in-chief of The People. In 2006 she was appointed as a proportionate Member to the National Assembly. In 2009, Mrs Rose-Quatre was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the SPPF secretariat. She headed the Party’s Secretariat until she was appointed as the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly in March, 2012.

Mrs Rose-Quatre assumed her function as High Commissioner in January 2017.