Environment Archives - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Hon Alexander Downer

by evanamusoke | Oct 13, 2018 | Apartheid, Australia, Brexit, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Commonwealth Secretariat, Cyprus, Diplomacy, Environment, Human Rights, India, New Zealand, Queen, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Downer, Alexander. 1951-. Born in Australia. Educated at Newcastle University (1975-1976). Australian Diplomatic Service, 1976-82. Political Adviser to Prime Minister JM Fraser, 1982-83. House of Representatives for Mayo,...

Interview with Abdul Minty

by nicholaszuniga | May 4, 2017 | Apartheid, Civil Society, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Environment, European Economic Community, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights, NATO, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Nuclear, Race, South Africa, Trade and Investment, United Kingdom, United Nations

Download the transcript (12 Feb 2013) Biography – Abdul Minty. Born South Africa, 1939. Graduate University College London. Appointed the Honorary Secretary of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) 1962-1995. He played an important role in lobbying the...

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 David McDowell

by chrismoffat | Jul 31, 2015 | Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Canada, CHOGM, Commonwealth Secretariat, Diplomacy, Environment, Fiji, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Nuclear, Pakistan, Queen, Reflections, Rhodesia (see also Zimbabwe), Singapore, Small States, South Africa, Sport, Technical Assistance, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcripts: Part One (24 June 2014); Part Two (2 July 2014); Appendix One (on Nelson Mandela); Appendix Two (on Idi Amin). Biography: McDowell, David Keith. 1937- . Born in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Educated at Victoria University of...

Interview with Sir Anand Satyanand

by chrismoffat | Jan 16, 2015 | Australia, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Foundation, Democracy, Environment, European Economic Community, Fiji, India, Judiciary, Law, New Zealand, Nuclear, Papua New Guinea, Queen, Reflections, Small States, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Satyanand, Anand. 1944- . Born in Auckland, New Zealand. Graduated from the University of Auckland, 1970. Lawyer, 1970-1982. Judge in Auckland District Court, 1982-1994. Parliamentary Ombudsman, 1995-2005. 19th...

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...

« Older Entries

Definitioner

Chris Child

Chris Child is a British political figure who served as Head of the Democracy Section in the Commonwealth Secretariat Political Affairs Division. He had previously worked in the office of the Leader of the British Labour Party and was Trade Union and Local Groups Officer of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), UK, from 1976-82. He was also Deputy Secretary of the AAM.

Telford Georges

Philip Telford Georges (1923-2005) was a Dominica-born legal scholar and jurist who served as Judge of the High Court and Acting Justice of Appeal in Trinidad and Tobago and Chief Justice of the Commonwealth in the Bahamas. Georges also worked in Africa as Chief Justice of Tanzania and later of Zimbabwe. He was Professor of Law at the University of the West Indies.

Dudley Thompson

Dudley Thompson (1917-2012) was a Jamaican politician and diplomat who practised law in Tanganyika and Kenya and across the Caribbean. Thompson was a member of the Jamaican Senate (1962-78) and House of Representatives (1978-83). He was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Malcolm Manley from 1972 to 1977, and served as Ambassador or High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia and Sierra Leone.

Transparency International

Transparency International is a non-government organisation based in Berlin, Germany, which monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It was founded in 1993 and produces an extensive annual ‘Global Corruption Barometer’ and ‘Corruption Perceptions Index’.

Khaleda Zia

Begum Khaleda Zia (b.1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. She is the chairperson and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), an organisation founded by her husband Ziaur Rahman in the late 1970s.

Hugh Craft

Dr Nickless Hugh Craft is an Australian diplomat who served as Director of the International Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, from 1979 to 1988. He was subsequently the Senior Executive of Environment Australia (1992-99) and member of the Department of the Australian Prime Minister and Cabinet (1999-2002).

Forbes Burnham

Linden Forbes Burnham (1923-1985) was a Guyanese politician who served as leader of Guyana from 1964 until his death, holding the titles of Premier (1964-66), Prime Minister (1966-80) and President (1980-85) over his long career. Burnham was founder and leader of the People’s National Congress.

Alister McIntyre

Sir Meredith Alister McIntyre (b.1932) is a Grenadian economist and development planner who played a key role in the movement toward Caribbean integration as Secretary General of CARICOM from 1974-77 and Vice Chairman of the West Indian Commission. During his international career, McIntyre also served as Director of the Commodities Division, UNCTAD, Deputy Secretary General of UNCTAD, and Assistant Secretary General at the United Nations in New York. From 1988 to 1998 he was Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, and later acted as Chief Technical Advisor to the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery.

La Francophonie

The Organisation international de la Francophonie (OIF), also known as La Francophonie, is an international organisation linking countries and regions that share French as first or customary language or where there is some affiliation with French culture. La Francophonie includes 57 member states, as well as three associate members and twenty observers.

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.

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.

Babangida

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, b.1941, was the military ruler of Nigeria from 1985 until 1993, having come to power in a coup against Muhammadu Buhari.

Neville Linton

Neville Linton, born in Guyana, is a Political Affairs consultant with an extensive background as an international civil servant, including a period of work with the Political Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat. At the Secretariat, he was involved in the Diplomatic Training Programme and initiatives around the Security Problems of Small States. Linton has also been associated with Transparency International as a Senior Adviser.

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.

Moses Anafu

Moses Anafu is a Ghanian diplomat who joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1979 as Research Officer in the International Affairs Division. He was appointed Chief Research Officer in 1987 and served as Assistant Director, Political Affairs Department from 1990 to 2000. He was the Secretary General's Special Envoy to South Africa from 1991 to 1994. Anafu has also advised the UNDP on questions of governance in Africa.

La Francophonie

La Francophonie is an international organisation created in 1970 that represents countries whose first language is French, or that have a significant proportion of French speakers, or where there is a notable affiliation to French culture.

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan (b. 1938). Ghanaian diplomat. He was Secretary-General of the United Nations 1997-2006.

PPP

The Pakistan People’s Party is a centre-left political party in Pakistan, founded in 1967.

Max Gaylard

Maxwell Gaylard (b. 1946). Australian diplomat. He was Director of Political/International Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in the 1990s.

Cheddi Jagan

Cheddi Berret Jagan (1918-97). Guyanese politician and member of the People’s Progressive Party. He was President of Guyana, 1992-97.

Joe Clark

Joe Clark (b. 1939). Canadian journalist, politician and statesman. As a member of the Progressive Conservative party, he was Prime Minister of Canada, June 1979-March 1980 and Secretary of State for External Affairs 1984-91.

Jeremy Pope

Jeremy Pope (1938-2012). New Zealand-born activist. In 1980 he was appointed director of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division. In 1993 he co-founded the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International.

RENAMO

RENAMO (Mozambican National Resistance) is a Mozambican political party, founded in 1975 as an anti-Communist organisation. It fought against the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) in the Mozambican Civil War (1976-1992) and received military support from South Africa.

Idi Amin

Idi Amin (c. 1925-2003). Became President of Uganda, 1971-79, after seizing power through a military coup.

Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson (1916-1995). British politician and Prime Minister (1964-1970, 1974-1976).

United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.

SWAPO

South West Africa People’s Organisation. A Namibian political party founded in 1960 to campaign for independence; it has governed Namibia since 1990.

Stalin

Joseph Stalin (1878-1953). Leader of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953.

Arnold Smith

Arnold Smith (1915 –1994). Canadian diplomat, the first Commonwealth Secretary-General (1965–1975).

Anthony Siaguru

Anthony Siaguru (1946-2004). Papua New Guinea lawyer and diplomat.

Patsy Robertson

Patsy Robertson. Jamaican journalist and diplomat. Successively Commonwealth Press Officer, Director of Information, and official Commonwealth spokesperson (1983-1994).

Sonny Ramphal (Shridath Ramphal)

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

Old Commonwealth

An informal term describing the countries of the pre-1945 Commonwealth: Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Oginga Odinga

Oginga Odinga (1911-1994). Kenyan politician and Vice-President (1964-1966).

Non-aligned movement

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

Non-alignment

A national foreign policy position of avowed neutrality towards major powers.

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.

Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney (b. 1939). Canadian politician, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1983-93) and Prime Minister of Canada (1984-93).

Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe (b.1924). Zimbabwean resistance leader and politician. Served as Prime Minister (1980-1987) and President (1987-) of Zimbabwe.

Ken Matiba

Ken Matiba (b. 1942). Kenyan politician, second in the 1992 presidential election.

Peter Marshall

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

Michael Manley

Michael Manley (1924-1997). Jamaican politician, twice served as Prime Minister (1972-1980, 1989-1992). A member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa.

Moni Malhoutra (Manmohan Malhoutra)

Manmohan Malhoutra (b. 1937). Indian diplomat, served in the Secretariat of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1966 to 1973 then joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, in 1974, to run the International Affairs Division.

John Major

John Major (b.1943). British politician, served, amongst other ministerial positions, as Foreign Secretary (1989) and Prime Minister (1990-1997).

Samora Machel

Samora Machel (1933-1996). Mozambican soldier and politician, served as President (1975-1986).

Luo

An ethnic group of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Lancaster House

A London mansion house, frequently used as the venue for decolonisation negotiations between the 1940s and 1970s. It was the site of the Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979, for instance, which brought an end to white rule in Rhodesia.

Kikuyu

A Bantu people, the largest ethnic group in Kenya.

Kibaki (Mwai Kibaki)

Mwai Kibaki (b. 1931). Kenyan politician and President (2002-2013).

KANU

Kenya African National Union. A Kenyan political party founded in 1960, that took power on Kenyan independence in 1963.

Kagame

Paul Kagame (b. 1957). President of Rwanda (2000-).

HIV/Aids

Human immunodeficiency virus infection / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system.

Sheikh Hasina

Sheikh Hasina (b. 1947). Bangledeshi politician and Prime Minister (1996-2001, 2009-).

Front Line States

A group of southern African states formed in 1970, which campaigned for democratic majority rule in South Africa.

FRELIMO

FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberation Front) was formed in 1962 as a Mozambican liberation movement. Since independence in 1975 it has been the ruling political party in Mozambique.

FCO

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'.

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

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.

Downing Street

London thoroughfare. Number ten is the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

Commonwealth Secretariat

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

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.

Eugenia Charles

Eugenia Charles (1919-2005). Dominican politician and Prime Minister (1980-1995).

CARICOM

Caribbean Community. In 1972, Commonwealth Caribbean leaders at the Seventh Heads of Government Conference agreed to transform the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) into a Common Market and establish the Caribbean Community, of which the Common Market would be an integral part. The treaty establishing the Caribbean Community was signed at Chaguaramas on 4 July 1973.

Maurice Bishop

Maurice Bishop (1944-1983). Grenadian politician and Prime Minister (1979-1983). The New Jewel Party under Bishop seized power from Eric Gairy in 1979.

Anthony Barber

Anthony Barber (1920-2005). British politician, who served in a variety of ministerial positions including as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1970-1974). He also served on the Commonwealth Eminenet Persons Group on South Africa (1985-1986).

Apartheid

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

Emeka Anyaoku

Emeka Anyaoku (b. 1933). Nigerian diplomat. Served as Head of the Commonwealth International Affairs Division (1973-1977), Assistant Secretary General (1977-1979); Deputy Secretary General (1979-1991); Secretary General (1991-2001).

ANC

African National Congress. A South African political party, founded in 1912, that opposed apartheid and has been South Africa’s governing party since 1994.

Mrs Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher)

Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Interview with Hon Alexander Downer

Interview with Abdul Minty

Interview with Kamalesh Sharma

Interview with David McDowell

Interview with Sir Anand Satyanand

Interview with Neville Linton

Recent Posts

Tags