Kitty Sweeb

Legal Advisor on International and Trade Relations

With an impressive career spanning over 40 years, counsellor-at-law Kitty is a distinguished veteran in international business and trade law, diplomacy, foreign policy, and negotiations. Her expertise encompasses bilateral and multilateral relations, transnational corporation agreements (TNCs), multilateral environment agreements (MEAs), sustainable development and natural resource management, and international security and geopolitics.

Kitty holds an LLM (Master of Laws) in International Business and Trade Law from Fordham University School of Law, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Law (JD) and Licentiaats Rechten (License in Law) from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname.

Recently, Kitty served as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Suriname to the United Nations (UN) in New York. Prior to this role, she was the Deputy Permanent Representative (Minister Counsellor) and Chargé d’affaires. Currently, she is an independent consultant and negotiator in international trade and public and private business relations.

During her tenure at the UN, Kitty held several significant positions. She was Vice President of the UN-Women Executive Board, Vice-Chair of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) for its 15th session, Chair of the UNFF for its 16th and 17th sessions, and Vice-Chair of the UN Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate an International Convention on Cybercrime.

Kitty has represented Suriname and frequently led delegations at numerous intergovernmental conferences, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). She has also participated in multilateral conferences of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), G77+China, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Organization of American States (OAS), Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and the Global Environment Fund (GEF).

Addressing international alignment issues, Kitty also served as Chair of the Caucuses of Permanent Representatives of CARICOM member states and of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC). Her talents as an international negotiator were particularly evident in her regional coordination at the UN Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime.

At the national level, Kitty served as a Foreign Policy Advisor at the Office of the President of Suriname. Since 2011, she has advised the Government of Suriname on public-private partnerships and trade agreements and was appointed to several national negotiating committees. Notably, she negotiated contracts with multinational extractive companies in the gold and bauxite industries. She is fluent in English and Dutch.

Kitty’s exceptional leadership in global negotiations and multilateral forums has profoundly advanced the development interests of Suriname and CARICOM from the viewpoint of strengthening the Global South, solidifying her reputation as a powerful and influential diplomat.