Peter Deveaux-Isaacs has been recently appointed as permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office with responsibility for coordinating the implementation of National Health Insurance.

His training in diplomacy positions him as an excellent mediator in negotiations that have sometimes become challenging between consultants and key stakeholders.

Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs was educated at Saint Augustine’s College, Iowa State University and Holborn College. He was also a Teaching and Research Assistant at Iowa State University.

He received extensive training in Diplomacy and National and International Security matters in the United Kingdom, Europe, United States, Chile, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and the Caribbean.

Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs’ 16-year tour in The Bahamas Foreign Service saw him posted to London, Washington and New York.

Prevailing conditions in Haiti in the late 1980’s did not permit him to take up his appointment as head of The Embassy in Port au Prince.

At the Court of St. James, he represented The Bahamas at the Commonwealth Secretariat, served as coordinator of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, participated in the Lome Negotiations in Brussels, Luxemburg and Vienna and an alternative representative at the International Maritime Organisation.

In Washington D.C., he served as political officer, and was instrumental in the country’s Drug Certification efforts.

As an alternative representative to the Organisation of the American States (OAS), his responsibilities included regional drug and security control, juridical and human rights commission matters.

He became the youngest Head of Mission, with his appointment as Consul at The Bahamas Consulate General in New York City.

His accreditation included the ten states of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. He had an active outreach programme in that jurisdiction, concretizing two key “Twin City” arrangements with Nassau and Albany and Newark.

During his eight-year tour in New York, Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs served as delegate at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations with his committee representation focusing on international drug, security and crime matters.

Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs returned to The Bahamas in January 1996 and took up appointment in the Ministry of Public Safety and Immigration, where he continued his assignment in narcotics control, security and crime matters.

He understudied internationally acclaimed Narcotics Control Expert Jack Cusack. Except for two years back at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was Head of Administration, Head of the Legal Section and CICAD Principal Representative, Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs spent 10 years as a Senior Official in the Ministry of National Security.

He served as the National Coordinator of Drug Control efforts and the Representative to UN, OAS and CARICOM anti drug fora.

He drafted the country’s first Five Year National Anti-Drug Plan and established the National Anti Drug Secretariat.

He helped to draft the OAS/CICAD Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism of Drugs (MEM) and was the country’s representative on the MEM for eight years. He was also the government’s chief representative on CICTE, the OAS counterterrorism agency.

Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs became responsible for the Bahamas Maritime Authority matters, Port Department, Environment, BEST Commission and Petroleum matters at the Ministry of the Environment in May 2010.

In 2012, he continued in Ministry of Transport and Aviation, helping to develop a National Maritime Policy, and to reform the Port, Post Office and Road Traffic Departments.

In addition, Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs was the Deputy Chairman and the longest serving Chairman of the National Independence Celebrations Committee, Deputy Chairman of the National Honours Committee and National Medal and Insignia Committee, Returning Officer in three General Elections, and an Advisory Board Member of the Salvation Army.

He is also the Coordinator/Administrator of the National Ebola Task Force and spent the last four years as Undersecretary in the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Transport and Aviation.

His family includes his wife Kayleaser and son Peter Deveaux-Isaacs Jr. They attend St. George’s Anglican Church in the Valley and St. James Anglican Church in Adelaide.