First Secretary at the Antigua and Barbuda Mission to the United Nations, Asha Challenger, was elected to serve as Vice President of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution.

Challenger was elected to the role unanimously during the second session of the INC, which concluded in Paris France last Friday, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Challenger serves in the role as a representative of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and she also given responsibilities as Rapporteur for the Committee, which is seeking to develop a binding legal agreement that will see to the end of plastic pollution across the globe.

A draft of the treaty is expected to be completed before their next session in Nairobi, Kenya this November.

Challenger, who has been a diplomat at Antigua and Barbuda’s Mission since 2016, expressed her commitment to working to ensure the globe’s waters remain plastic free.

“Our marine ecosystems which are so vital for our survival will literally suffocate if we fail to act now,” Challenger said in a statement. “There’s a growing sense of optimism that we are moving in the right direction in relieving our planet from an impending crisis.”

The PM’s Office noted that Challenger’s appointment is further recognition of Antigua and Barbuda frontline effort to make the oceans free of plastic pollution and the dreaded consequences it is bringing to the health and economic welfare of island nations in the Caribbean and around the world.