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Interview with Richard Bourne

by rcraggs | Oct 27, 2013 | Apartheid, Australia, Canada, CHOGM, Civil Society, Climate Change, Commonwealth Institute, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Elections, European Economic Community, Fiji, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Guyana, Human Rights, India, Media, Mozambique, New Zealand, Nigeria, Race, South Africa, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Bourne, (Rowland) Richard. 27 July 1940- . OBE 2002. Journalist, The Guardian, 1962–72 (Education correspondent, 1968–72). Assistant Editor, New Society, 1972–77. Deputy Editor, Evening Standard, 1977–78; London Columnist,...
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ANC Apartheid CHOGM Commonwealth History Human Rights Madiba Mandela Oral History Politics Queen Rajapaksa Singapore South Africa Sri Lanka Thatcher Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

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Charles Clarke
Charles Rodway Clarke (b.1950) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 2004 to 2006 in the government of Tony Blair. Clarke was previously Secretary of State for Education and Skills (2002-04) and Minister without Portfolio (2001-02).
Mark Collins
Nicholas Mark Collins (b.1952) is a British environmental consultant and geographer who served as Director of the Commonwealth Foundation from 2005 to 2011. Collins, who had previously worked for the United Nations Environment Programme (2004-05) is the Chairman of the Galapagos Conservation Trust.
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.
Richard Bourne
Richard Bourne (b.1940) is a British journalist, writer and human rights advocate who has acted as Deputy Director of the Commonwealth Institute (1983-89), Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (1990-92) and Head of the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit (1999-2005). He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Secretary of the Ramphal Institute, and was a correspondent for The Guardian and deputy editor of the London Evening Standard.
Maja Daruwala
Maja Daruwala is an Indian barrister and human rights advocate who has served as Executive Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) since 1996. Daruwala previously worked as Ford Foundation Programme Officer for South Asia.
Soli Sorabjee
Soli Jehangir Sorabjee (b.1930) is an Indian jurist who served as Attorney General of India from 1998 to 2004. He was previously Solicitor General of India from 1977 to 1980, and had been a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India from 1971.
Iwokrama
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Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an international, non-governmental organisation established in 1987 to support the implementation of the Harare Declaration in the Commonwealth of Nations. It provides thematic human rights reports to every Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In 1993, its headquarters moved from London to New Delhi, India.
Royal Commonwealth Society
The Royal Commonwealth Society is an international educational charity based in London, functioning additionally as a private members’ club. Its main aim is to facilitate the exchange of ideas on public affairs in an international frame, and it supports and promotes the modern Commonwealth of Nations. It was founded in 1868 as the Colonial Society.
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Ramphal Institute
The Ramphal Institute is a not-for-profit organisation established in honour of the former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal in 2008. Based in London, UK, the Institute focuses its work on developing knowledge and education practices around social, economic, governance and environmental policy areas, for the benefit of the 54 states of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Commonwealth Lawyers Association
The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) was established in 1986 in Jamaica, emerging from the Commonwealth Legal Bureau (established in 1968) and linked to the Commonwealth & Empire Law Conferences first organised in London in 1955. The CLA aims to facilitate exchange between legal professionals, academics and students across the Commonwealth on issues of legal education, professional ethics and approaches to the rule of law.
Forbes Burnham
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BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the two largest political parties in Indian national politics, along with the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1980 and grew out of opposition to the Congress-led ‘Emergency’ suspension of democratic rule in the late 1970s. The BJP is closely aligned with the right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
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.
Institute of Economic Affairs
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is a London-based think tank established in 1955 to promote the use and dissemination of free market policies in government, economy and society.
Senate House
The Senate House, University of London, is home to the University’s Central Academic Bodies, the Vice-Chancellor’s Offices, and the various research institutes of the School of Advanced Study. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies has been based in Senate House since 2009.
Billie Miller
Dame Billie Antoinette Miller, b. 1944, is a Barbadian politician and member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). Beginning her political career in 1976, she served in a variety of cabinet positions before being appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1994. In 1999 she headed the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Miller was Chairperson of the Executive of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Vice-Chairperson of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group.
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international sporting event that takes place every four years and brings together athletes from across the Commonwealth of Nations. It began in 1930 as the British Empire Games, and is overseen today by the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Marlborough House
Marlborough House is a 17th century mansion in the City of Westminster, central London, which has served as the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat since 1953.
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Refers to incumbent, previous, and next Chairpersons-in-Office of the Commonwealth, who, after the 2002 CHOGM, met to try to resolve the dispute over Zimbabwe’s membership of the Commonwealth.
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James Gordon Brown (b. 1951). British politician. He was Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, 2007-10 and Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1997-2007.
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The Pakistan People’s Party is a centre-left political party in Pakistan, founded in 1967.
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Flora MacDonald (b. 1926). Canadian politician and member of the Progressive Conservative party. She was Secretary of State for External Affairs (1979-80) and has worked with the Commonwealth of Learning and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
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Canadian International Development Agency. Established in 1968, it was responsible for administering foreign aid to developing countries. In 2013 it was merged with the Department of Foreign Affairs, becoming Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.
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United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.
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An informal term describing the countries of the pre-1945 Commonwealth: Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.
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Overseas Development Administration. A department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibility for overseas aid from 1970 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1997.
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Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People. An organisation which campaigns for the rights of the Ogoni people of southeast Nigeria, founded in 1990.
Don McKinnon
Sir Donald McKinnon (b. 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister for the National Party (1990-96), Foreign Minister (1990-99) and Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations (2000-08).
John Major
John Major (b.1943). British politician, served, amongst other ministerial positions, as Foreign Secretary (1989) and Prime Minister (1990-1997).
Latimer House Principles
Commonwealth principles on the relationship between the three branches of government that seek to promote good governance. Drafted in 1998 and endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2003.
Latimer House Guidelines (Latimer House Principles)
Commonwealth principles on the relationship between the three branches of government that seek to promote good governance. Drafted in 1998 and endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2003.
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Simon Jenkins
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Harare Declaration
The Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991 set out the Commonwealth's principles and values, including membership criteria. Click here to read the Declaration in full.
Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser (b. 1930). Prime Minister of Australia (1975-1983). Fraser also served as Co-Chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa.
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office. British government department with responsibility for relations with other countries. Created in 1968 from the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office. Often called 'the Foreign Office'.
EPG
Eminent Persons Group. A group of well-known individuals chosen by the Commonwealth to research a specific issue. The 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed an EPG to report on apartheid in South Africa, published in 1986 as Mission to South Africa. A second EPG was appointed in 2009 and tasked to produce a report on Commonwealth reform for 2011.
Commonwealth Trade Union Council
The Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC) was established in 1979 to coordinate activities between trade unions in Commonwealth countries. In 2004, it was renamed the Commonwealth Trade Union Group (CTUG) and in 2007 boasted a combined membership of 30 million.
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.
Commonwealth Institute
A Commonwealth educational organisation that was operative between 1962 and 2000. It was originally founded in 1887 as the Imperial Institute.
Cold War
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CHOGM
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Commonwealth Advisory Bureau. An independent think tank and advisory service for the Commonwealth.
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British Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting organisation semi-autonomous from the British government, originally founded in 1922.
Apartheid
A system of legally enforced racial segregation implemented and upheld by the National Party in South Africa from 1948 – 1994
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Within the Commonwealth, Australia, Britain and Canada.
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General Sani Abacha (1943-1998). Nigerian army general and politician. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.
Abacha (Sani Abacha)
General Sani Abacha (1943-1998). Nigerian army general and politician. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.
Mrs Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher)
Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).
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