Portfolio: Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs and Persons with Disabilities

Telephone: (784) 456-1111 (Ext 3886)

Senator the Honourable Keisal Melissa Peters is the Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs and Persons with Disabilities of St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

In her early years, Senator Peters attended the Lowmans Leeward Anglican School and thereafter attended the St. Vincent Girls’ High School where she actively participated in student government among other things.

Throughout her formative years, Senator Peters held membership in various organisations such as the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross Society and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Girl Guides Association which are geared towards personal development through service to community and country.

Senator Peters went on to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College and while there, she was elected President of the College’s Heritage Club.

In 2006 Senator Peters enrolled at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, to pursue her Bachelor of Laws Degree, which she completed in 2009. While pursuing her studies she was elected President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Students Association and served from 2007-2008.

In 2011 Senator Peters completed her legal professional training at the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago, having successfully attained her Legal Education Certificate on the Principal’s Roll of Honour and she was awarded the Principal’s Award for Trial Advocacy as well as the Robert Mathieu Sellier Award for the best performance in Trial Advocacy.

In that same year, she was admitted to practice as a Barrister-at-Law and Solicitor and for almost decade, Senator Peters has specialized in various areas of law including but not limited to family law, property law, intellectual property law, company law, personal injury law, insurance law and the law of succession.

In November 2020, Senator Peters joined the House of Assembly as a Government Senator and the Minister of State with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In August 2022, she was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, becoming the first woman in Vincentian history to hold that portfolio.

Quite notably, Minister Peters attended the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and was appointed as the Minister-Facilitator for the negotiations on the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce and Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions. Through her leadership and guidance, WTO Members were able to reach consensus on extending the Work Programme and Moratorium. During MC12, Minister Peters also served as the Chair of the Council of Ministers of Trade of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the lead Ministerial Spokesperson for the OECS Trade Ministers.

Minister Peters also played a pivotal role in securing St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Pro Tempore Presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) for the period 2023 and currently serves as Chair of the CELAC Foreign Ministers.

In June 2023, Minister Peters assumed the Chair of the Ministerial Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and is one of the youngest Ministers to serve in this capacity.