Scotland Archives - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Witness Seminar – Britain in the Commonwealth: The 1997 Edinburgh Commonwealth heads of Government meeting

by evanamusoke | Oct 13, 2018 | Apartheid, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Elections, Eminent Persons Group, European Economic Community, European Union, Good Governance, Human Rights, India, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Technical Assistance, Trade and Investment, United Kingdom

This Witness Seminar, Britain in the Commonwealth: The 1997 Edinburgh Commonwealth took place at Marlborough House, London, on Monday, 19th March 2018. Download full Witness Seminar Transcript. Session participants: Amitav Banerji then Deputy Conference Secretary,...

The 1986 Commonwealth Games

by evanamusoke | Mar 7, 2016 | Blog, Diplomacy, Race, Scotland, South Africa, Sport, Uncategorized

On the 19th February, The National Archives released files from the Prime Minister’s Office, covering the years 1986-88. Included in this collection were files relating to the July 1986 Commonwealth Games, held in Edinburgh. The files, totalling over 200 pages are...

Interview with Jon Sheppard

by rcraggs | Dec 29, 2014 | Apartheid, Australia, Burma, Cameroon, CHOGM, Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, European Economic Community, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Good Governance, Human Rights, India, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Queen, Rwanda, Scotland, Small States, South Africa, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, United Nations, USA, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Sheppard, Jon. Joined Australian Department of External Affairs in 1967;Ambassador to Ethiopia, 1985-1989; Australian Ambassador to the Hashiemite Kingdom of Jordan, 1992-1995; Director of Political Affairs, Commonwealth...

Definitioner

Abdulsalami Abubakar: General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar (b.1942) is a Nigerian military and political figure who succeeded General Sani Abacha as President of Nigeria, serving from 1998 to 1999. Under Abubakar, Nigeria adopted a new constitution and facilitated multi-party elections, transferring power to the democratically-elected Olusegun Obasanjo in May 1999.
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.
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).
Stan Mudenge: Isaak Stanislaus Gorerazvo Mudenge (1941-2012) was a Zimbabwean political figure who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under the presidency of Robert Mugabe. From 2005 until his death in 2012, Mudenge was Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education in Zimbabwe.
Matthew Neuhaus: Matthew Neuhaus is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, and was appointed Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe in 2011. From 2002 to 2008 he served as Director of the Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, and was Assistant Secretary and Head of the CHOGM Policy Task Force in Australia.
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.
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.
Jon Sheppard: Jon Sheppard was the Director of Political Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1996 to 2002. He has served as Australian Ambassador to Ethiopia (1985-89), Jordan (1992-95) and Zimbabwe (2004-07).
Stuart Mole: Stuart Mole is a British political figure who joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1984 as Special Assistant to the Secretary-General. He was Director of the Secretary-General’s Office from 1990 to 2000, and Director-General of the Royal Commonwealth Society from 2000 to 2009.
Kevin Rudd: Kevin Rudd, b.1957, was twice Prime Minister of Australia (2007-10, 2013), leading a Labor Party government. He has also acted as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2010-12) under the leadership of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Troika: 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.
Max Gaylard: Maxwell Gaylard (b. 1946). Australian diplomat. He was Director of Political/International Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in the 1990s.
OAU: Organisation of African Unity. Founded in 1963 to act as a collective voice for African Nations, it was replaced by the African Union in 2002.
ZANU: Zimbabwe African National Union. A militant political organisation founded in 1963 to campaign against white minority rule in Rhodesia. It won power in 1980, and in 1987 merged with ZAPU to form ZANU-PF.
UN: United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.
Kris Srinivasan: Khrishnan Srinivasan (b.1937). Indian politician and diplomat, Foreign Secretary (1994-1995), Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General (1995-2002).
Millbrook Declaration: The Millbrook Declaration (1995) is a Commonwealth policy programme, announced at the end of the New Zealand CHOGM. It was designed to uphold the Harare Declaration (1991). Click here to read the Declaration in full.
Arnold Smith: Arnold Smith (1915 –1994). Canadian diplomat, the first Commonwealth Secretary-General (1965–1975).
Ken Saro-Wiwa: Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995). Nigerian writer and political and environmental activist. An outspoken critic of the regime of General Sani Abacha, and Royal Dutch Shell’s environmental pollution in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta, Saro Wiwa was executed on 10 November 1995. Eight other MOSOP activists were hanged.
SADC: Southern African Development Community (SADC). An international organisation founded in 1992, and a successor to the Southern African Development Coordination Conference, founded in 1980. Goal to encourage socio-economic cooperation and integration among southern African states.
Operation Murambatsvina: ‘Operation Drive Out Rubbish’. A Zimbabwean slum clearance programme, that started in 2005.
Old Commonwealth: An informal term describing the countries of the pre-1945 Commonwealth: Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. A military alliance formed in 1949, originally to defend Western Europe from the Soviet Union.
Musharraf (Pervez Musharraf): Pervez Musharraf – (1943-) Pakistani soldier and politician. He was the military ruler of Pakistan (1999-2001) and served as President (2001-2008).
Robert Mugabe: Robert Mugabe (b.1924). Zimbabwean resistance leader and politician. Served as Prime Minister (1980-1987) and President (1987-) of Zimbabwe.
MDC: Movement for Democratic Change. The leading Zimbabwean opposition party, founded in 1999.
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).
Thabo Mbeki: Thabo Mbeki (b.1942). South African politician. He has served as an African National Congress negotiator in the 1980s and 1990s, and as South African Deputy President (1994-1999) and President (1999-2008).
Nelson Mandela: Nelson Mandela (b. 1918). South African anti-apartheid campaigner and politician, served as South Africa’s first post-apartheid President (1994-1999).
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).
Madiba: The Xhosa clan name of Nelson Mandela, often used to refer to him respectfully.
John Howard: John Howard (b.1939). Prime Minister of Australia (1996-2007).
Gareth Evans: Gareth Evans (b. 1944). Australian politician, Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1966.
EU: European Union. International organisation of European states. Known as the European Economic Community before 1993.
Commonwealth Secretariat: The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.
ComSec (Commonwealth Secretariat): The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association: A Commonwealth organisation that promotes good governance. Founded in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association, and renamed in 1948.
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.
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.
Prince Charles: Prince Charles (b. 1948). Heir to the throne of the UK and the other territories for which the British monarch is also Head of State.
British Commonwealth: The term used to describe the Commonwealth until 1949, reflecting British pre-eminence within it.
Tony Blair: Tony Blair (b. 1953). British politician, served as Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007.
Bainimarama (Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama): Josaia Voreqe 'Frank' Bainimarama (b. 1954). Fijian naval officer and politician, Prime Minister of Fiji since 2007.
Association of Commonwealth Universities: Association of Commonwealth Universities. An organisation that links universities in Commonwealth counties. Originally founded in 1913, the current name was adopted in 1963.
Yasser Arafat: Yasser Arafat (1929-2004). Palestinian resistance leader and politician, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (1969-2004), President of the Palestinian National Authority (1994-2004).
Apartheid: A system of legally enforced racial segregation implemented and upheld by the National Party in South Africa from 1948 – 1994
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.
ABC countries: Within the Commonwealth, Australia, Britain and Canada.
Sani Abacha: 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.

Witness Seminar – Britain in the Commonwealth: The 1997 Edinburgh Commonwealth heads of Government meeting

The 1986 Commonwealth Games

Interview with Jon Sheppard

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