Throughout the Caribbean women are actively involved in politics from the organisation level to serving in parliament, with several presiding officers being women. In recent years there have been 11 Heads of Government - Dominica was first in 1980, Haiti and Bermuda have each seen it done three times, Jamaica has had it twice with the same woman and both Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have had women run the country.

Female heads of state/government in the region have included:

• Dame Mary Eugenia Charles, Prime Minister, Dominica (1980 - 1995)
• Claudette Werleigh, Prime Minister, Haiti (1995 - 1996) 
• Janet Jagan, President, Guyana (1997 - 1999)
• Portia Simpson-Miller, Prime Minister, Jamaica (2006 - 2007; 2012 - 2016)
• Michèle Pierre-Louis, Prime Minister, Haiti (2008 - 2009)
• Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister, Trinidad and Tobago (2010 - 2015)
• Pamela Gordon, Premier, Bermuda (1997 - 1998)
• Jennifer Smith, Premier of Bermuda (1998 - 2003)
• Paula Cox, Premier of Bermuda (2010 - 2012)
• Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, President of Haiti (1990 - 1991)
• Dame Louise Lake-Tack, Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda (2007 - 2014)
• Dame C. Pearlette Louisy, Governor-General of Saint Lucia (1997 - 2017)

Current Women Heads of State

Her Excellency Dame Sandra MASON Governor-General, Barbados (8 Jan 2018 - present)	Her Excellency Lucile GEORE-WOUT Governor, Curaçao (4 Nov 2013 - present)
Her Excellency Dame Cecile La GRENADE Governor-General, Grenada (7 May 2013 - present)	Her Excellency Susan DOUGAN Governor-General, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (1 Aug 2019 - present)
Her Excellency Paula-Mae WEEKES President, Trinidad and Tobago (18 Mar 2018 - present)
*The Governor General is the representative of the Head of State, The Monarch H.M. Queen Elizabeth II

Current Women Heads of Government

The Hon. Evelyn WEVER-CROES Prime Minister, Aruba (17 Nov 2017 - present)	The Hon. Mia MOTTLEY Prime Minister, Barbados (25 May 2018 - present)
The Hon. Sharlene CARTWRTIGHT-ROBINSON Premier, Turks and Caicos Islands (9 Dec 2016 - present)

Current Women Leaders of the Opposition

The Hon. Palmavon WEBSTER Leader of the Opposition, Anguilla (24 Apr 2015 - present)	The Hon. Jeanne J. AHERDEN Leader of the Opposition, Bermuda (21 Nov 2017 - present)
The Hon. Kamla PERSAD-BISSESSAR Leader of the Oppostion, Trinidad and Tobago (9 Sep 2015 - present)

Women in Caribbean Politics Series

Women in Politics in Anguilla	Women in Politics in Barbados
Women in Politics in Dominica	Women in Politics in Grenada
Women in Politics in St. Lucia	Women in Politics in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Learn More

	Read Biographies of current and former women leaders in our Knowledge Centre
	Women in Political Leadership in the Caribbean [UN Women, 2018]
	Women in Parliament in 2018
	Women & Governance: A Grenadian Experience
	Women’s Participation in Politics: A View from the Caribbean
	Visit Caribbean Institute for Women in Politics
	Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership