Climate Change Archives - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Kamalesh Sharma

by evanamusoke | Apr 28, 2017 | CHOGM, Civil Society, Climate Change, Commonwealth Foundation, Commonwealth Institute, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Elections, Eminent Persons Group, Environment, Good Governance, Human Rights, India, Maldives, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Queen, Small States, Sri Lanka, Technical Assistance, Trade and Investment, United Nations

Download Interview Transcripts: Part One (9 March 2016) and Part Two (29 March 2016) Biography: Sharma, Kamalesh. 1941-. Born in India. Educated at St Stephen’s College, Delhi and University of Cambridge. Indian Foreign Service, 1965-2001. India’s Permanent...

Interview with Ambassador Muchkund Dubey

by evanamusoke | Oct 12, 2016 | Bangladesh, CHOGM, Climate Change, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, India, Sri Lanka, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Dubey, Muchkund. Born in India. Indian Foreign Service, 1957-1991. Former Indian Foreign Secretary. Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Indian Permanent Representative to United Nations in Geneva, 1982-85. Professor,...

Interview with the Rt Hon Jim Bolger

by chrismoffat | Aug 10, 2015 | Apartheid, Australia, CHOGM, Climate Change, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Good Governance, New Zealand, Nigeria, Queen, Rhodesia (see also Zimbabwe), Small States, South Africa, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Bolger, James Brendan ‘Jim’. 1935- . Born in Opunake, New Zealand. Elected to the Parliament of New Zealand as MP for King Country in 1972. Minister of Fisheries and Associate Minister of Agriculture, 1977-78. Minister of...

Interview with Neville Linton

by rcraggs | Dec 30, 2014 | Angola, Apartheid, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Canada, CHOGM, Civil Society, Climate Change, Cold War, Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Elections, Environment, Good Governance, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Papua New Guinea, Small States, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Technical Assistance, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United Nations, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Linton, Neville, Dr. Political Scientist, University of Alberta; Graduate Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies; Political Advisor in the secretariat set up to host the Non-Aligned Movement...

Dr Bishnodat (Vishnu) Persaud Discussion Paper

by rcraggs | Jun 17, 2014 | CHOGM, Climate Change, Commonwealth Secretariat, Development, Environment, Grenada, Reflections, Small States, Supporting Documents

Download Discussion Paper. [Originally produced for the 24 June 2013 Witness Seminar hosted at Marlborough House, London: ‘The Heartbeat of a Modern Commonwealth? The Commonwealth Secretariat 1965-2013] Biography: Persaud, Dr Bishnodat. 1933- . Born in Guyana....

Session 3: Sustainable Development

by rcraggs | May 11, 2014 | Climate Change, Commonwealth Secretariat, Decolonisation, Development, Environment, Small States, Technical Assistance

This is session 3 of the Witness Seminar, The heartbeat of a modern Commonwealth? The Commonwealth Secretariat 1965-2013 which took place at Marlborough House, London, on 24th June, 2013. Download full Witness Seminar Transcript Session participants: (click here for...

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Definitioner

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation)

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that focuses its work on eliminating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in both the developed and developing world. Established in Quebec City, Canada in 1945, it is now based in Rome, Italy and brings together 194 member states to share knowledge and debate policy.

John Syson

John Syson (1939-2006) was an official with the Commonwealth Secretariat who, among other responsibilities, served as a key advisor to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation on matters relating to Southern Africa. Syson was also involved in negotiations around Mozambique’s entry into the Commonwealth in 1995.

Iwokrama

The Iwokrama Forest is a tropical forest in central Guyana, located at the juncture of Amazonian and Guianan flora and fauna. Along with the Congo, New Guinea and Amazonia, it is one of the last four pristine tropical forests in the world. The territory is overseen by the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development.

Peter Williams

Dr Peter Williams joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1984, serving first as Director of Education and then as Director of the Human Resource Development Division. He later served as Joint Deputy Executive Chair of the Council for Education in the Commonwealth and as Secretary of the Commonwealth Consortium for Education.

Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries

The promotion of ‘Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries’ (ECDC) is a central principle of the Group of 77 countries, providing the focus for a number of conferences and collaborative activities, notably the 1981 Caracas Programme of Action on ECDC and the 1986 Cairo Declaration.

ECDC (Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries)

Amitav Banerji

Amitav Banerji is a career diplomat from India who became Director of the Political Affairs Division (PAD), Commonwealth Secretariat, in 2009. Previous to this post he had served as Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General, 2000-09, as well as Special Adviser in PAD from 1990 to 2000.

DFID (Department for International Development)

The Department for International Development (DFID) is the British government department in charge of administering overseas aid, defining its object as the elimination of world poverty and the promotion of sustainable development.

HIPC

The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is a debt reduction programme jointly coordinated by the IMF and the World Bank and launched in 1996. The initiative provides debt relief and low-interest loans to 39 countries around the world, 33 of which are located in sub-Saharan Africa.

Political Affairs Division

The Political Affairs Division (PAD) is the section of the Commonwealth Secretariat that coordinates activities between the Commonwealth, its member country governments and partner international organisations. It focuses its work on the prevention or resolution of political conflict at the invitation of a member country, and also supports the development of democratic processes and institutions.

Marlborough House

Marlborough House is a 17^th century mansion in the City of Westminster, central London, which has served as the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat since 1953.

Vishnu Persaud

Dr Bishnodat ‘Vishnu’ Persaud, b.1933 in Guyana, served the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1974 to 1992, acting as Director and Head of the Economic Division from 1981. He lectured at the University of the West Indies from 1992-1996 and later became a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Committee on Development Policy and the UN Expert Group on the Vulnerability of Small States.

New International Economic Order

The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was a proposal set forth by a group of developing countries in 1974 to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It focused on issues of trade, development assistance, tariff reductions in developed countries and was intended to revise the dominant ‘Bretton-Woods’ economic order that was perceived to disproportionately benefit the United States.

UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is an agency of the United Nations. Its aim is to promote industrial development in developing countries.

San Francisco Conference

The United Nations Conference on International Organization took place in San Francisco, April-June 1945 and resulted in the creation of the United Nations Charter.

Raúl Prebisch

Raúl Prebisch (1901-86). Argentine economist. Along with Hans Singer he developed the Singer-Prebisch thesis on the deterioration of the terms of trade between primary products and manufactures.

Gayoom (Maumoon Abdul Gayoom)

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (b. 1937). Maldivian politician. He was President of the Maldives, 1978-2008. In 2011 he formed the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

President Ershad

Hussain Muhammad Ershad (b. 1930). Bangladeshi politician and military leader. He was President of Bangladesh, 1983-90 after coming to power through a bloodless coup.

Mrs Lagarde (Christine Lagarde)

Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (b. 1956). French politician and lawyer. She was France’s Trade Minister, 2005-07. She is currently Managing Director of the IMF (2011-).

Judith Hart

Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark (1924-1991). British politician. A member of the Labour Party, she was Minister of Overseas Development, 1969-70, 1974-75 and 1977-79.

Field Marshall Smuts

Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950). South African statesman and military leader. He was Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, 1919-24 and 1939-48.

ECOSOC

United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is a principal organ of the United Nations and coordinates the economic and social work of more specialized UN agencies.

Catherine Ashton

Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland (b. 1956). British politician and member of the Labour Party. In 2009 she became the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union.

Bretton Woods Institutions

Shorthand for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), now part of the World Bank. These were established in July 1944 as outcomes of the Bretton Woods Conference.

Brandt Report

The Brandt Report (1980) was the outcome of an independent commission chaired by the former German Chancellor Willy Brandt. It reported on issues of international development, suggesting that a gulf in living standards existed between a global north and south.

Brandt Commission (Brandt Report)

WTO

The World Trade Organization. International organisation that aims to manage and organise liberalisation of international trade. Established in 1995, the WTO replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed in 1947

World Bank

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. An international institution, founded in 1944, that funds development projects

Whitehall

London street. Site of many government buildings, the term ‘Whitehall’ is often used to refer to the bureaucracy of the British government.

UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Established in 1964 to promote to trade, investment and development opportunities in developing countries.

United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.

Veronica Sutherland

Veronica Sutherland (b. 1939). British diplomat, Commonwealth Deputy General-Secretary (1999-2001).

Sonny Ramphal (Shridath Ramphal)

Shridath Surendranath 'Sonny' Ramphal (b. 1928). Guyanese politician, second Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990).

Non-aligned movement

An international organisation of countries that are not aligned with any manjor world power, founded in 1961.

Nassau CHOGM

The Nassau Accord was passed by the 1985 CHOGM held in Nassau in The Bahamas. The Accord called on the government of South Africa to end apartheid, and launch negotiations with the country's black majority.

Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall (b. 1946). British diplomat, Deputy Secretary General (Economic & Social) Commonwealth Secretariat from 1983 to 1989.

IMF

International Monetary Fund. Created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF's original aim was to stabilise exchange rates and aid national reconstruction after the end of the Second World War.

Edward Heath

Edward Heath (1916 –2005). British politician and Prime Minister (1970-1974).

G20

Inaugurated in 1999, the Group of Twenty brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 major economies.

European Union. International organisation of European states. Known as the European Economic Community before 1993.

EEC

European Economic Community. An international organisation of European states, founded in 1957. Renamed the European Union in 1993.

Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.

CMAG

Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1995, the CMAG upholds the terms of the Harare Declaration.

CFTC (Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation)

The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) is an organisation administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat that delivers technical assistance to Commonwealth member countries. A mutual and voluntary fund, it was established in 1971.

Cold War

A period of ideological tension from around 1945 to 1991 between capitalist nations led by the USA and communist nations led by the USSR.

CHOGM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Every two years Commonwealth heads of government meet to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, with the aim of promoting common initiatives.

Commonwealth Charter

The Commonwealth Charter was agreed in December 2012. The Charter sets out the principal values and aspiration of the modern Commonwealth. Click here to read the document in full.

Apartheid

A system of legally enforced racial segregation implemented and upheld by the National Party in South Africa from 1948 – 1994

Interview with Kamalesh Sharma

Interview with Ambassador Muchkund Dubey

Interview with the Rt Hon Jim Bolger

Interview with Neville Linton

Dr Bishnodat (Vishnu) Persaud Discussion Paper

Session 3: Sustainable Development

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