There is a new Program Manager at the [Secretariat of the Comité Interamericano Contra el Terrorismo](http://www.cicte.oas.org) (Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism), the anti-terrorism arm of the Organization of American States (OAS) – none other than Bahamian Shevaun Culmer.
Ms Culmer this year completed a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. While completing her schooling she interned in Bolivia with Partners of The Americas and also was part of a student group project to develop policy proposals for the Government in Senegal. She has studied in Spain and the Dominican Republic, and also interned with the United States Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Bahamas currently serves as the Vice Chair of CICTE, and also as head of the Working Group tasked with preparing for the Tenth Regular Session of the CICTE (CICTE X). The Bahamas has proposed to the CICTE that governments in the region ought to work to leverage the economic and innovative power of the private sector for counterterrorism efforts in the Western Hemisphere through public/private partnerships. Consequently, as a theme for CICTE X, The Bahamas put forth *“Public-Private Partnerships In The Fight Against Terrorism.”* The Working Group is responsible for drafting of the documents that will be presented and approved at the CICTE meeting next March.
It is expected that this theme will engender lively and productive discussion and further the dialogue on this potentially critical tool in the hemispheric counter terrorism arsenal.
The Bahamas will serve as Vice Chair of CICTE until March 2010, when it takes over chairmanship of the Committee.