Diane Quarless

Director, UN ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean

Diane Quarless has been the Director of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean in Port of Spain since 2011, where she leads a multidisciplinary team of experts in the search for solutions to the many development challenges facing the countries of the Caribbean.

She previously served as Chief of the Small Island Developing States Unit and as Head of Partnerships for Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. She began her career as a diplomat in the Foreign Service of Jamaica, serving as a policy analyst and practitioner in development administration. Prior to joining the United Nations Secretariat, she served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations in New York, where she contributed to advancing the broader strategic interests of the Caribbean Community, the Alliance of Small Island Developing States and the G-77 developing countries.

Trained in International Relations and Development Management, she has experience in the design of regional policy interventions and the management and oversight of capacity building programmes to advance Caribbean development.