Nahjae Nunes receives prestigious award from Jamaica’s Prime Minister

Nahjae, who recently completed his MPhil in International Relations at Christ Church and who will soon embark upon a DPhil at the college, was a winner in the most competitive award category – that of Academics, which recognises outstanding academic merit. Nahjae’s academic record is exemplary: having graduated from his bachelor’s degree as the valedictorian, he became a top graduand in his cohort at New York University, where he completed the MS in Global Affairs. He is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts (RSA), a Rising Leaders Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and a Scholar of All Souls College, Oxford. 

Nahjae’s work has stood out in particular for having consistently translated into meaningful global policy contributions, influencing discussions and decisions at international fora such as the UN and the Commonwealth Secretariat. He is the first person from the Americas to serve as a Senior Fellow at UNICEF Innocenti, an agency that conducts research to drive global change for children and young people, has been a Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Policy Advisor at the UN, and has been a member of several ministerial taskforces at the Commonwealth.

In his MPhil research at Christ Church, Nahjae has investigated the agency of small states in global economic governance, particularly focusing on how Caribbean states strategically engage with international financial institutions like the IMF. In his forthcoming DPhil, he will further explore structural inequalities in international political economy, emphasising how existing global governance structures affect economic autonomy, equity, and justice for small and developing states. According to Nahjae, central to his academic work and policy contributions is a commitment to addressing structural inequalities and advocating for economic justice in the Global South.

As Nahjae was unable to travel overseas to receive his award, his mother represented him at the prizegiving ceremony at Jamaica House, the Office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica.

Reflecting on his remarkable achievement, Nahjae said: ‘Receiving this prestigious national recognition deeply reinforces how transformative my time at Christ Church has been. The support, mentorship, and rigorous intellectual environment I've experienced here have been integral to my scholarly growth and have undoubtedly played a crucial role in this achievement.’

The Christ Church community would like to congratulate Nahjae on his great success, and to wish him well as he begins his doctoral research.