Small States Archives - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Billie Miller

by nicholaszuniga | May 4, 2017 | Barbados, CARICOM, Civil Society, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Gender, Human Rights, Jamaica, Judiciary, Law, Reflections, Small States, Trade and Investment, Trade Unions, Trinidad and Tobago

Download the transcript (12 Jan 2015) Biography – Dame Billie Miller was educated at Queen’s College in Barbados, King’s College, Durham University and the Council of Legal Education in England. She was the coordinator of CARICOM ministerial spokespersons with...

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...

Witness Seminar – The Commonwealth Secretariat, Economics and Development, and Global Politics

by evanamusoke | Jan 6, 2017 | Australia, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Foundation, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Elections, Fiji, Human Rights, India, Media, Mozambique, New Zealand, Queen, Small States, South Africa, United Kingdom, United Nations, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

The Witness Seminar was held on 24th March 2014 at the Australian National University in Canberra. Download Witness Seminar. Programme Session 1: The Commonwealth Secretariat Session 2: The Commonwealth, Economics and Development Session 3: The Commonwealth in Global...

The Maldives Leaves the Commonwealth

by evanamusoke | Oct 21, 2016 | Blog, Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Democracy, Elections, Good Governance, Human Rights, Maldives, Small States

Dr Eva Namusoke, Postdoctoral Research Officer On 13 October 2016 the Maldives became the third country to leave the Commonwealth. The decision came after a number of years defined by a frosty relationship with the Commonwealth, centring on allegations of undemocratic...

Hon. Julia Gillard speaks on the Future of the Commonwealth

by evanamusoke | Oct 7, 2016 | Australia, Blog, CHOGM, Decolonisation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Education, Elections, Eminent Persons Group, Human Rights, Queen, Race, Small States, South Africa, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, United Nations

On 5th October, Hon Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia (2010-2013) spoke at King’s College, London on the future of the Commonwealth. Gillard will be a Visiting Professor in the Policy Institute at King’s College. Read the transcript of her...

Interview with Professor Yash Ghai

by evanamusoke | Aug 10, 2016 | Australia, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, Fiji, Good Governance, Human Rights, Judiciary, Kenya, Law, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Small States, Tanzania, Uganda, Uncategorized

Download Interview Transcript: Part One (14 July 2015); Part Two (15 July 2015). Biography: Ghai, Yash. 1938. Born in Kenya and graduate of the University of Oxford and Harvard University. Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Yale Law School, 1971-73. Professor of Public Law...

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Definitioner

TANU (Tanganyika African National Union)

The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the leading nationalist political party in the East African state of Tanganyika. It was founded in 1954 by Julius Nyerere as the ‘Tanganyika African Association’. In 1977, the party merged with the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) to form Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), a centre-left party which continues to dominate politics in an independent Tanzania.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jai Ram Reddy

Jai Ram Reddy, b.1937, is an Indo-Fijian statesman and leader of the National Federation Party from 1977 to 1987 and 1992 to 1999. He later served as President of the Fiji Court of Appeal.

Neroni Slade

Tuiloma Neroni Slade, b.1941. Attorney General of Samoa from 1976-1982, Slade later became Assistant Director of the Legal Office for the Commonwealth Secretariat. Entering Samoa’s diplomatic service in 1993, he would serve as Ambassador to Canada and the United States, as well as judge of the International Criminal Court. From 2008-2014, Slade acted as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum.

Ratu Mara

Sir Kamisese Mara (1920-2004). Fijian politician. He was Prime Minister of Fiji, 1970-92. Though defeated in the election of 1987, he headed an interim administration following a military coup, until 1992. He was then President of Fiji, 1993-2000.

Raila Odinga

Raila Amolo Odinga (b. 1945). Kenyan politician. He was Prime Minister of Kenya, 2008-13.

Kofi Annan

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

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A global development network founded in 1965 that provides expert advice, training, and grant support to developing countries.

Alliance Party

The Alliance Party was a Fijian political party that ruled from 1966 to 1987 when it was beaten by a coalition led by Timoci Badavra.

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.

Flora MacDonald

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.

Paul Reeves

Sir Paul Reeves (1932-2011). Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand (1980-85) and Governor-General of New Zealand (1985-90).

United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.

Sitiveni Rabuka

Sitiveni Rabuka (b. 1948). Fijian soldier, led to military coups in 1987, and later elected Prime Minister (1992-1999).

Rabuka (Sitiveni Rabuka)

Sitiveni Rabuka (b. 1948). Fijian soldier, led to military coups in 1987, and later elected Prime Minister (1992-1999).

Julius Nyerere

Julius Nyerere (1922-1999). Tanzanian politician and President (1961-1985).

Ken Matiba

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

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.

Michael Kirby

Michael Kirby (b.1939) is an Australian jurist who served as a Justice on the High Court of Australia between 1996 and 2009. He was President of the International Commission of Jurists (1995-98) and from 2009 to 2011 was a member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group.

Kikuyu

A Bantu people, the largest ethnic group in Kenya.

Mwai Kibaki

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

Kibaki (Mwai Kibaki)

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

Jomo Kenyatta

Jomo Kenyatta (1893-1978). Kenyan politician, Prime Minister (1963-1964) and President (1964-1978).

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.

Freedom of Information Act

A British law, passed in 2000, that established the right of public access to information held by the state, but also established a number of exemptions.

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 of Learning

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an international organisation promoting and developing learning and distance education resources in association with Commonwealth member states. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, the COL was founded at the 1987 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It has since become one of the world leaders in distance education provision. .

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.

Buganda

A kingdom within Uganda.

BBC

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

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).

African Union

The successor organisation to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) from 2002. It aims to promote greater cooperation and unity between member states.

Interview with Billie Miller

Interview with Kamalesh Sharma

Witness Seminar – The Commonwealth Secretariat, Economics and Development, and Global Politics

The Maldives Leaves the Commonwealth

Hon. Julia Gillard speaks on the Future of the Commonwealth

Interview with Professor Yash Ghai

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