Ms. Paula Robinson, a Jamaica national, joined the ILO Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean as Senior Specialist - Workers' Activities in June 2003.

Ms. Robinson started her international trade union career in 1984 when she worked for the WCOTP (founding member of Education International). In this international teachers union, she served as the Co-ordinator of Development Assistance Programmes and was responsible for workers' education activities in Africa and Latin America. She left the international labour movement for a time to work with refugees and asylum seekers. In 1997, she returned to the labour movement as Education Secretary for the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW). During her tenure with the IFBWW, Ms Robinson worked with trade unions in Africa and Latin America to develop workers' education programmes. She was also Focal Point for Gender and Child Labour issues, which brought her into contact with trade unions in Asia.