Inga Rhonda King (also known as I. Rhonda King; born 21 April 1960) is a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines accountant, teacher and publisher who has served as the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations since September 2013.
Inga Rhonda King | |
---|---|
Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations | |
Assumed office 13 September 2013[1] | |
Prime Minister | Ralph Gonsalves |
74th President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council | |
In office 26 July 2018 – 25 July 2019 | |
Preceded by | Marie Chatardová |
Succeeded by | Mona Juul |
Personal details | |
Born | Kingston, West Indies Federation | 21 April 1960
King was born in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles[2] and is Vincentian by descent.[3] She has a bachelor's of science degree in chemistry and mathematics from the State University of New York at Albany.[2][3]
King is a certified accountant and financial manager.[2] She has also worked in publishing, business development and academia.[2] She taught English as a foreign language in China from 2002 to 2003 and has been a volunteer mathematics teacher for at-risk children in Miami.[2]
In 2003, King published her biography as a collection of essays called Journal of a Superfluous Woman in which she narrates her experience with breast cancer.[4]
In 2006, King founded Strategy Forum Inc, an independent publisher of illustrated books. She is also an artist.[5]
From 2010, King was Chairperson of National Investment Promotions in Kingstown.[2] She was also appointed honorary consul for Portugal.[3] In 2011, she became chair of St Vincent and the Grenadines' investment promotion agency.[3]
King was appointed as Permanent Representative to the United Nations by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on 13 September 2013.[2][6][3] She has spoken on behalf of the L.69 Group of Developing Countries.[7] In January 2016, St Vincent and the Grenadines voting rights were suspended due to outstanding payment of dues. King said it was a clerical error which would be fixed promptly.[8]
On 29 September 2016, King was elected chair of the UN Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).[2][9] On 27 April 2017, she spoke at the General Assembly to champion the resolution to include World Creativity and Innovation Day on the UN Days of Observance.[10]
On 26 July 2018, King was elected to be the seventy-fourth President of the UN Economic and Social Council.[11]