Permanent Secretary
Mrs. Elisabeth Anne Harper started her education at St. Gabriel’s Primary School in Georgetown after which she attended the St. Rose’s High School. In 1986, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French from the University of Guyana, passing with Honours. She also attended the University of Oxford where she attained a Certificate in Diplomatic Studies in 1990.
Mrs. Harper joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1976 as a Clerk in the Registry. She has since acquired a wealth of experience in international affairs and other governmental matters serving in every major department of the Ministry with a wide scope of responsibility. She served as Foreign Service Officer I in the Administrative Division (1981-1984), Foreign Service Officer II in the Protocol Division (1984-1988), Foreign Service Officer III in the Political Affairs Division with responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean (1988-1991), Head of the Frontiers Division (1990-1991), Counsellor at the Guyana High Commission in London (1991-1995), Director of the Department of the Americas and Asia (1996-2001) and Director General (2001- 2015). As Director General, she also held the portfolios of Ambassador to CARICOM and Non-resident High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis.
Mrs. Harper was a member of Guyana’s Delegation to numerous meetings of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Amazonian Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO), the Latin American Economic System (SELA), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the Rio Group, the United Nations (UN), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Commonwealth. She was a member of Guyana’s Team for the Guyana-Suriname Maritime Arbitration and was involved in several negotiations on behalf of Guyana both at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
She was once chair of the CARICOM Intergovernmental Task Force to revise the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
Mrs. Harper’s distinguished service to Guyana was recognized by the Government in 2011 when she was awarded one of Guyana’s most prestigious National Awards, the Golden Arrow of Achievement, for long, dedicated and distinguished service in the Guyana Foreign Service.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic nominated Mrs Harper to stand as its Prime Ministerial candidate in the 2015 General and Regional Elections. It was a role that Mrs Harper was proud to accept as she viewed this as an opportunity to continue to contribute even further in service to Guyana and its people.
From 2016 to 2020 Mrs Harper served as a Consultant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Border Matters.
In October 2020 she was appointed Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and in December 2020 she was appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. She is also the Co-Agent for Guyana in the case regarding the validity of the 1899 Award about the frontier between Guyana and Venezuela which is currently before the International Court of Justice.
Mrs Harper was born in Kitty, Georgetown on October 2, 1957. A devout Christian, she is married to Mark Harper. Between them, they have five children.
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