Aloun Ndombet-Assamba (born 27 February 1955) is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n lawyer, politician and diplomat. She was formerly Member of Parliament for Saint Ann South Eastern and served as Jamaica's Minister of Tourism, Entertainment, and Culture.Kerri-Ann M. Smith, interview with Aloun Ndombet-Assamba.
/ref> She has served as High Commissioner for Jamaica in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

between 2012 and 2016.

Early life and education

Assamba was born in

Spanish Town Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...

, St. Catherine her parents pulled up roots and went to live in

Moneague Moneague is a small town in Saint Ann, Jamaica on the main road between Kingston and Ocho Rios Ocho Rios (Spanish for "Eight Rivers") () is a town in the parish of Saint Ann on the north coast of Jamaica, and is more widely referred ...

, St. Ann along with her when she was a baby. Her parents then moved to Kingston with her when she was 13 years old. She was educated at Ferncourt High School, Merl Grove High School and the Convent of Mercy Alpha Academy, where she was deputy Head Girl. She then went on to study law at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

and the Norman Manley Law School. She then studied Alternative Dispute Resolution at

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio, United States. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio, Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830 and ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

Career

Legal career

Assamba was legal advisor at the Jamaica Industrial Development Corporation (JIDC) between 1983 and 1987 and the Heinz Fellow in Strategic Management at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

between 1991 and 1992. She became a lecturer at the Mona School of Business and taught Mediation at the Norman Manley Law School. Between 1994 and 2002, Assamba was the general manager of the City of Kingston Co-operative

Credit Union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

(COK), from 1994 to 2002, and went on to serve as General Counsel & Chief Corporate Officer at Paymaster Jamaica Limited (2007-2008).

Political career

Aloun Ndombet-Assamba served as a Government

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

between 1998 and 2002 and then as Member of Parliament for Saint Ann South Eastern until 2007, when she was succeeded by

Lisa Hanna Lisa Rene Shanti Hanna (born 20 August 1975) is a Jamaican politician and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 1993, becoming the third Jamaican to win the title. A member of the opposition People's National Party, Hanna currently serves as ...

. Assamba served as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Technology before becoming one of three women in the Cabinet of Jamaica as Minister of Tourism, Entertainment, and Culture. She has been involved with many voluntary sector organisations, including the United Way of Jamaica, the Jamaica Cancer Society, the Jamaican Bar Association, and the

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

Diplomatic career

Assamba was ambassador to six European countries and was appointed as the Jamaican High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in May 2012 and served until May 2016."Assamba goes to London"
''Jamaica Gleaner'', 3 May 2012.

Awards

* Heinz Fellowship,

Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot Ponsardin, Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known Champag ...

La Grande Dame Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndombet-Assamba, Aloun Living people Jamaican women lawyers University of the West Indies alumni Government ministers of Jamaica Women government ministers of Jamaica People's National Party (Jamaica) politicians Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica Tourism ministers of Jamaica High commissioners of Jamaica to the United Kingdom Jamaican women ambassadors Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Jamaican women politicians 21st-century Jamaican politicians 20th-century Jamaican lawyers 20th-century women lawyers