Ambassador Frazier joined the Diplomatic Corps in 1992 as a student diplomat and was confirmed into the post of First Secretary in 1994. She served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as desk officer for the US and the Americas and later in the Mediterranean Department. She was posted to the Maltese embassies in Washington, twice in Rome, London, Brussels, and New York, where she currently represents Malta on the UN Security Council.

For six years Ambassador Frazier held the post of Director of the Defence Matters Directorate within the Office of the Prime Minister. Here, as Head of the Defence Ministry, she was responsible for a wide range of international security issues, from European defence policy, Mediterranean defence and security issues, and the integrity of Malta’s sovereignty. She was also responsible for Malta’s involvement in crises management operations overseas, and advised and supported the Prime Minister in the management and direction of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) and acted as the civilian oversight of the AFM.

Whilst at the helm of the Defence Directorate Ambassador Frazier and her team consolidated Malta’s response to the Arab Spring and most particularly the crises in Libya. Her Directorate also created the Humanitarian Hub in Malta which proved one of the most important contributions of Malta to the Libyan crises.

She was appointed Ambassador for Migration and later Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She served in Brussels as Ambassador of Malta to Belgium, Luxembourg and NATO before being appointed Malta’s Ambassador to Italy in October 2013, where she was also accredited to San Marino and the Rome-based UN bodies.

In January 2020 Ambassador Frazier was appointed Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations in New York as well as to the International Seabed Authority based in Jamaica. During her tenure in NY, HE Frazier has served as Vice President of the 74th UN General Assembly and in 2020 was appointed Co-Chair of the Steering Committee on Partnerships for Small Island Developing States

(SIDS) SIDS, a position she was re-appointed to in 2021. In June 2021 she was also unanimously elected to the post of Chair of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) for the 76th Session on the UN General Assembly where in that role she led an all-women bureau for the first and only time in UN history. HE Frazier also served on the Advisory Board of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) for the period 2021-2022.  During Malta’s tenure on the UN Security Council, she served as President of the UNSC twice.

In 2013 Ambassador Frazier was selected as a “Woman Inspiring Europe” by the European Institute for Gender Equality. In 2020 she was listed as a “Woman Shaping Foreign Policy” by the Women Foreign Policy Group and she is also an active International Gender Champion.

HE Frazier was awarded the honour of Knight in the National Order of Merit by the French Government for her work during the Libyan revolution as well as the Gran Croce of the Italian Medal of Honor and the Gran Croce Medal of Honour from the Brazilian government.. In 2019 Ambassador Frazier also received the Ambassador Alfred Zarb Ambassadorial Award for lifelong diplomatic achievement, the highest award conferred by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta onto its Ambassadors.
Ambassador Frazier has lectured at the University of Malta on Euromed issues to students reading an MA in Human Rights, and is an external examiner and advisor on CSDP and humanitarian issues for students reading BAs and MAs in European Studies, Governance, International Relations, Humanitarian Action, and Conflict Analysis and Resolution. She also lectures as part of the visiting scholar programme for the International Maritime Law Institute of the University of Malta.
Ambassador Vanessa Frazier studied at Luther College, USA, obtaining a BA in Business Management and French, and subsequently obtained her Masters in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Malta, with a focus in International Law. In 2019 her alma mater, Luther College conferred a Doctorate Degree Honoris Causa onto her in recognition of her career achievements

She volunteered with the Red Cross in Washington DC as well as the Mentor Foundation and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in London. She also represented Malta in several national and international Judo competitions, a sport which she practiced for over 35 years and for which she was national champion in her weight category for much of that time.
She is the proud mother of two children.

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