Category Archives for "Keynote Speakers"

H.E. Nancy Karigithu

Principal Secretary
State Department for Shipping and Maritim

Mrs. Nancy Karigithu, CBS is the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Shipping and Maritime, the State Department charged with responsibility for promotion of the Maritime and Shipping Industry in Kenya. She holds a bachelor’s degree in law and a Master’s degree in International Maritime law from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, Malta. 

Prior to joining the State Department, Mrs. Karigithu worked at the Kenya Maritime Authority as Director General for nine (9) years. She has previously served as the Chair of the Technical Cooperation Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for two (2) terms.  Currently she sits on the Boards of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU) based in Malmo, Sweden and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute based in Malta. 

She was involved jointly with IMO, in the setting up and launch of the Association of Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern & Southern Africa (WOMESA), where she served two terms as Chairperson and now sits on the governing council.  WOMESA is a first regional body which brings together women professionals in the maritime sector of 26 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Before her present appointment Mrs. Karigithu was working as a legal expert for the European Union (EU) project, Critical Maritime Routes, aimed at enhancing maritime situational awareness in the Indian Ocean. 

Mrs. Karigithu was bestowed with an Honorary Fellowship by the World Maritime University, in recognition of her distinguished service to the international maritime industry, and recently appointed by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya as Ambassador and Special Envoy for Maritime and Blue Economy in Kenya. 

H.E. Rena Lee

Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs
President of the BBNJ Conference

Rena is Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. She specialises in the practice of public international law, covering areas including law of the sea, environmental and climate change law. Rena was elected as President of the UN Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) in 2018. She is also a member of the Legal and Technical Commission of the International Seabed Authority.

Rena joined the Singapore public service in 1992 and has served in a number of roles, including with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She currently also serves as the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

Arsenio Dominguez

Director, Marine Environment Division
International Maritime Administration

Mr. Arsenio Dominguez is designated as representative to deliver the Opening Keynote Address of the Conference on behalf of H.E. Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization and Chancellor of the World Maritime University

Mr. Dominguez currently serves as Director, Marine Environment Division of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), having served previously as Director, Administrative Division and Chief of Staff. Prior to coming to joining IMO in July 2017, Mr. Dominguez worked for the Panama Maritime Authority starting in 1998 as Head of the Regional Technical and Documentation Office, and as Alternate Representative and Technical Adviser of Panama to IMO from 2004 to 2014.  In July 2014 he was appointed as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Panama to IMO.

From 1998 to 2017, Mr Dominguez represented Panama at IMO, as well as at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) and the International Mobile Satellite Organisation (IMSO). He also represented Panama at several shipping conferences, exhibitions, seminars and workshops.  

Having chaired a number of meetings at international organisations, Mr. Dominguez served as Chair of IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) from 2014 to 2017, having previously served as Vice-chair from 2012 to 2013.  He also served as Chair of the Technical Committee at the 29th IMO Assembly in 2015, Chair of IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) Working Group on Maritime Security and Piracy from 2010 to 2014, and as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee of Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers (DSC) from 2009 to 2011.

Mr. Dominguez holds a Naval Architect degree from Veracruzana University, Mexico.  He also obtained a MBA in Management at University of Hull and a Certificate of Higher Education in International Law and European Politics from Birkbeck University, both in London, England.

Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry

President, World Maritime University

LLM, PhD, University of Geneva
LLB, LLM, University of the West Indies
Barrister-at-Law

Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry (LL.B, LL.M, Ph.D International Law) joined WMU as President in the summer of 2015.
Prior to joining WMU, she served as the Director of the International Labour Standards Department of the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Doumbia-Henry began her career at the University of the West Indies, Barbados, as a lecturer in law. She later worked with the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in The Hague, The Netherlands and then joined the ILO in 1986 where she served both as a senior lawyer of the Organization and in several management positions. She was responsible for developing ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 and remained responsible for it until she joined WMU. Since the late 1990s, she led the ILO participation in a number of IMO/ILO interagency collaborations on several issues of common interest to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and ILO, including the Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Groups on Fair Treatment of Seafarers and on Liability and Compensation regarding Claims for Death, Personal Injury and Abandonment of Seafarers.

Her qualifications include Barrister at Law and Solicitor, and she is entitled to practice in all English-speaking Caribbean jurisdictions and is a Member of the Inner Temple, Inns of Court, United Kingdom. She holds:

– a Masters of Law from the University of the West Indies;

– a Masters in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva, and

– a Doctorate in International Law from the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Doumbia-Henry has dual Dominican and Swiss nationality and has published extensively on a wide range of international law subjects, including on: International labour standards and trade, the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, the Seafarers Identity Documents’ Convention, 2003 and the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Sea.