Her Excellency Ngedikes Olai Uludong, 39, is Palau’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Palau’s Ambassador on Climate Change. She explains her philosophy to the SPC: “If my parents were strong and aggressive enough to fight for the rights of Palau, then I can carry this legacy on. Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean that I can’t participate in negotiations, seen as predominantly a male world. Any Pacific woman can do this, have strength in yourself and faith, I believe in God and a reason for everything. I’d like to see more Pacific women in this field – we can do it.”

And she succeeded in taking the affairs of the small country in her hands. She also holds the portfolio of Palau’s first Ambassador to the European Union and is also the first Permanent Representative of Palau to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. She currently serves as the Vice Chair to the Bureau of the Committee on Fisheries at UN FAO.

Ms Uludong has extensive experience in environmental and foreign policy in Micronesia and the Pacific region.

She is an active public servant who has coordinated environment and climate change work in the Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Maldives, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process, and served as the Lead Negotiator for the United Nations Negotiating Bloc: The Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) in New York City. As the Lead Negotiator for the bloc, she has represented over 40 nations negotiating on their behalf at the UN Climate Change talks.

Ms Uludong holds a Master of Science in Climate Change and a Post Graduate Diploma on Climate Change, University of the South Pacific, a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Guam and an Associate of Arts degree in Science from the Northern Marianas College.