International Advisory Council – Dame Billie Miller is a Barbadian lawyer and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. She is currently Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary for Barbados. On seven occasions, she was elected as a member of Parliament for the City of Bridgetown and was appointed Senior Minister in May 2003, retaining portfolios in foreign affairs and foreign trade. Dame Miller was the first woman to hold a position in Barbados’ Cabinet. Over the years, her ministerial portfolios have included Health and National Insurance, Education, Culture, and Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

At the international level, Dame Miller was the Coordinator of CARICOM Ministerial spokespersons and was responsible for external trade negotiations. At the national level, she was a member of the Barbados Family Planning Association, the Barbados National Trust, and the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. In the past, she has served as Chairwoman of the NGO Planning Committee for the International Conference on Population and Development, President of the International Planned Parenthood Federation for the Western Hemisphere, member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, member of the United Nations Population Fund’s Advisory Panel for Activities Concerning Women, and Chairwoman of the Inter- American Development Bank’s Advisory Council on Women in Development. Dame Miller was selected as the Laureate for the United Nations Population Award in 2008, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the awareness of women’s and population issues. She attended Queen’s College in Barbados, King’s College, Durham University, and the Council of Legal Education in England.