Sri Lanka 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 Amitav Banerji

by evanamusoke | Feb 3, 2016 | Apartheid, CHOGM, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, Good Governance, Human Rights, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Queen, Sexuality, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda, United Nations, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Banerji, Amitav. 1953-. Born in India. Educated at Georgetown University (BA) and Delhi School of Economics (MA). Joined Indian Foreign Service in 1975. Private Secretary to the Indian Foreign Minister, 1979-1982. Joined...

Interview with Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin

by chrismoffat | Jul 23, 2015 | ASEAN, Canada, Civil Society, Commonwealth Secretariat, Development, Diplomacy, Human Rights, Law, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Ariffin, Noor Farida. 1947- . Born in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia. Educated in law at the Inns of the Courts, London, 1970. Joined the Judicial and Legal Service, Malaysia, in 1971, where she served for 25 years. Director...

Interview with Moses Anafu

by chrismoffat | Jul 16, 2015 | Apartheid, Bangladesh, Botswana, Cameroon, Cold War, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rhodesia (see also Zimbabwe), Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcripts: Part One (17 June 2014); Part Two (13 July 2014); Part Three (19 November 2014). Appendices: One – Interview Inserts (6 May 2015); Two – Secretariat Analysis of 1979 Internal Settlement in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia; Three –...

Interview with Indrajit Coomaraswamy

by chrismoffat | Jun 29, 2015 | CHOGM, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Development, Elections, India, Malaysia, Queen, Singapore, Small States, South Africa, Sport, Sri Lanka, Technical Assistance, Trade and Investment, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Coomaraswamy, Dr Indrajit. 1950- . Educated at Cambridge University and the University of Sussex. Staff Officer, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 1973-89, serving in Economic Research, Statistics and Bank Supervision Divisions, with...

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Gamani Corea

Dr Gamani Corea (1925-2013) was a Sri Lankan economist and diplomat who served as Secretary-General of UNCTAD from 1974 to 1984. Corea was previously Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the EEC, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, as well as Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon.

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan (b.1972) is a Sri Lankan cricketer who is considered one of the most successful bowlers in the history of the game. Muralitharan played internationally for Sri Lanka from 1992 to 2011, and has played for domestic teams in Sri Lanka, England, India, Australia and Jamaica.

Francois Pienaar

Jacobus Francois Pienaar (b.1967) is a South African rugby player, best known for his role as Captain of the World Cup-winning South African rugby team in 1995.

Chuks Ihekaibeya

Columbus Chukwujindu ‘Chuks’ Ihekaibeya (1942-2014) was a Sudanese civil servant who served the Commonwealth Secretariat as Chief Programme Officer, Political Affairs Division, and as Special Assistant to Secretary General of the Commonwealth Chief Emeka Anyaoku.

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.

Pascal Lamy

Pascal Lamy (b.1947) is a French business and political figure who served as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation from 2005 to 2013. He was previously European Commissioner for Trade from 1999 to 2004.

Bishakha Mukherjee

Bishakha Mukherjee is an economist who served the Commonwealth Secretariat as an Economic Adviser from 1985 to 2006. Mukherjee contributed significantly to the development of the Commonwealth Private Investment Initiative, an umbrella private equity fund facilitating the set up of regional funds across the Commonwealth. Following her time in the Secretariat, Mukherjee acted as Senior Adviser at Aureos Capital (2006-13) and Head of Institutional Relations at the Acumen Fund (2013-15).

Commonwealth Development Corporation

The Commonwealth Development Corporation or ‘CDC Group’ is a development-oriented financial institution overseen by the Department for International Development, UK Government. Founded in 1948 in London, the CDC’s investment portfolio focuses on emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with a particular emphasis on South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Zeti Aziz

Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz (b.1947) is a Malaysian economist who was appointed Governor of Bank Negara, Malaysia's central bank, in 2000.

Mervyn King

Mervyn King, Baron King of Lothbury, (b.1948) is a British economist who served as Governor of the Bank of England from 2003 to 2013. King had been Deputy Governor of the Bank from 1998 to 2003 and Chief Economist and Executive Director from 1991.

Samura Kamara

Samura Kamara (b.1963) is a Sierra Leonean economist who was appointed as his country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2012. Kamara was previously Minister of Finance (2009-12) and Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone (2007-09).

Nigel Lawson

Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Plaby, (b.1932) is a British politician and journalist who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1983 to 1989. Lawson was previously Secretary of State for Energy (1981-83) and Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1979-81).

Joseph abbey

Dr Joseph Abbey is a Ghanaian economist and diplomat who served as his country’s Ambassador to Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Abbey was also a Finance and Planning Minister in Ghana, coordinating the World Bank's programme in the country in the 1980s.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Montek Singh Ahluwalia (b.1943) is an Indian economist who served as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission in India from 2004 to 2014. Ahluwalia had previously worked for the International Monetary Fund as Director of the Independent Evaluation Office (2001-04), having held several senior positions as a civil servant in the Indian Ministry of Finance, which he joined in 1979.

Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey Sachs (b.1954) is an American economist who serves as Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General and is Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Sachs is Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia University and director of the University’s Earth Insitute. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project on Millennium Development Goals.

Rumman Faruqi

Rumman Faruqi is an economist and international trade advisor who served as Director of the Economic Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, from 1993 to 2001. Faruqi was previously a Senior Economist at UNCTAD (1972-79), a Consultant at the United Nations (1982-87) and Senior Advisor to the World Bank (1987-98).

Winston Cox

Winston Cox is a Barbadian economist who served as Deputy Secretary General for Economic Affairs and Development at the Commonwealth Secretariat from 2000 to 2006. Following his time at the Secretariat, Cox joined the Inter-American Development Bank as Executive Director. He had previously served as Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados (1997-99).

Cyrus Rustomjee

Dr Cyrus Rustomjee (b.1961) is a South African economist and financial advisor who served as Director of the Economic Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, from 2009 to 2014. He was previously Chairperson of the Financial Services Board in South Africa (2003-09) and member of the G20 Secretariat during South Africa’s term as G20 Chair (2007).

Gill Marcus

Gill Marcus (b.1949) is a South African politician and banker who served as Governor of the South African Reserve Bank from 2009 to 2014. Marcus had previously been Deputy Governor under Tito Mboweni from 1999 to 2004.

Chris Liebenberg

Christo Ferro Liebenberg (b.1934) is a South African banker who served as Minister of Finance from 1994 to 1996 in the Government of National Unity led by Nelson Mandela. Liebenberg had previously worked for Nedcor Bank from 1952 to 1994.

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu (b.1931) is a South African social and political activist and former Anglican bishop who rose to prominence during the fight against apartheid. Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town (1986-1996),

Roman Grynberg

Dr Roman Grynberg is an economist who served as Deputy Director of Trade and Regional Cooperation at the Commonwealth Secretariat. He subsequently acted as Manager for Economic Governance at the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and is a Research Fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA).

Ransford Smith

Ransford Smith (b.1949) is a Jamaican public servant who acted as Deputy Secretary General for Economic Affairs and Development in the Commonwealth Secretariat from 2006 to 2013. Smith was previously Jamaica’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Rome and Vienna. He was Chairman of the WTO Committee on Trade and Development (2000-01) and President of the Trade and Development Board of the UNCTAD (2005-06).

Ngaire Woods

Dr Ngaire Woods (b.1963) is a New Zealand-born academic who in 2011 was appointed Founding Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, where she is Professor of Global Economic Governance. Dr Woods has served as an Advisor to the IMF, the UNDP and the Commonwealth Heads of Government. She is also Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council.

Dwight Venner

Sir Kenneth Dwight Venner is a Vincentian economist and financial advisor who was appointed as Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in 1989. Venner was previously Director of Finance and Planning in the St Lucian Government (1981-89) and Lecturer in Economics at the University of the West Indies (1974-81).

Akinjide Osuntokun

Dr Akinjide Osuntokun (b.1942) is a Nigerian academic and diplomat who served as his country’s Ambassador to Germany from 1991 to 1995. He was previously Special Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Nigeria Universities Office in the US and Canada. Dr Osuntokun has taught History and International Relations at Universities in Barbados, Jos and Maduguri, as well as the University of Lagos, where he is Professor Emeritus.

Martin Khor

Martin Khor (b.1951) is a Malaysian journalist, economist and civil society activist who was appointed Executive Director of the South Centre in 2009. Khor previously served as Director of the Third World Network and since 1997 has been a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Task Force on Environment and Human Settlements.

Robert Champion de Crespigny

Robert James Champion de Crespigny (b.1950) is an Australian businessman and government advisor who served as Chancellor of the University of Adelaide (2000-04) and Chair of the South Australian Economic Development Board (2002-06). Champion de Crespigny was the founder of Normandy Mining Limited in 1985, with which he remained Executive Chairman for 17 years.

Jocelyne Bourgon

Jocelyne Bourgon (b.1950) is a Canadian public servant who served as President of the Canadian Centre for Management Development (1999-2003) and Clerk of the Privy Council (1994-1999). Previously, Bourgon had acted as Deputy Minister of Transport (1993-94) and President of the Canadian International Development Agency (1993).

Commonwealth Expert Group on Democracy and Development

The Commonwealth Expert Group on Democracy and Development was established at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Coolum, Australia, in 2002. The group, chaired by the Indian politician (and later Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh, was tasked with identifying ‘how democracies might best be supported in combating poverty’. The resulting report – ‘Making Democracy Work for Pro-Poor Development’ - was presented at the 2003 CHOGM in Abuja.

SK Rao

Dr Siripurapu Kesava Rao is an Indian economist and development expert who served the Commonwealth Secretariat in various diplomatic capacities from 1978 to 2001: first in the Economic Affairs Division and subsequently as Director, Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division. He was member of a task force charged with restructuring the Commonwealth Secretariat (1991-93) and member of the Secretary General’s Management Committee (1993-2000). From 1986 to 1987, Dr Rao was Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.

Paul Martin

Paul Martin (b.1938) is a Canadian politician who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Martin succeeded Jean Chrétien as Leader of the Liberal Party, having previously served the government as Minister of Finance (1993-2002).

Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz (b.1943) is an American economist and recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001). He was Chair of the President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors (1995-97) and Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist of the World Bank (1997-2000). In 2000, he founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) at the Columbia University, where he is University Professor.

Mark Malloch Brown

Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown, (b.1953) is a British political figure and development specialist who served as Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2007 to 2009. He was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2006 and administered the United Nations Development Programme from 1999 to 2005.

Gerry Helleiner

Professor Gerry Helleiner is a Canadian economist and political advisor associated with the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. From 1991 to 1999, he was Research Director of the Group of 24 caucus at the IMF and World Bank, and has chaired the Boards of the North South Institute in Ottawa and the International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI) in Washington. He has taught in Canada, Nigeria, Tanzania, the United States, and the UK.

Richard Jolly

Sir Richard Jolly (b.1934) is a British development economist who served as Assistant Secretary-General of the UN from 1982 to 2000. During the 1970s, he was Director of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, returning there as an Honorary Professor and Research Associate following his retirement from the UN.

Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper (b.1959) is a Canadian politician who was elected Prime Minister of Canada in 2006. He is Leader of the Conservative Party, which was formed in 2003 after a merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance.

Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Indrajit Coomaraswamy (b.1950) is a Sri Lankan economist who served the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1990 to 2008. He was Director of Economic Affairs and Deputy-Director, Secretary-General’s Office.

Jim Wolfensohn

James Wolfensohn (b.1933) is an Australian-American lawyer and economist who served as President of the World Bank from 1995 to 2005. Prior to his nomination to head the World Bank, he worked as an investment banker in Sydney, London and New York.

Chandrika Kumaratunga

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (b.1945) is a Sri Lankan political figure who served as President of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2005. She is the daughter of former Prime Ministers Solomon Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Kumaratunga was leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party until 2005.

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional financial institution with headquarters in Metro Manila, Philippines. Established in 1966, its stated aim is to facilitate economic development in Asia. It counts 67 countries as members, with 48 of these from within Asia and the Pacific region.

Amartya Sen

Amartya Kumar Sen (b.1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998. He is Thomas W Lamont Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University, and previously served as Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, and Chancellor of Nalanda University, India.

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.

Modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi (b.1950) is an Indian politician and leader of the Bharatiya Janaa Party (BJP). He was elected Prime Minister of India in 2014, having previously served as Chief Minister of Gujarat (2001-14).

South Centre

The South Centre is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1995 and head-quartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The Centre grew out of the 1987 South Commission, an initiative chaired by Julius Nyerere and sponsored by several non-aligned countries, and carries on the Commission’s remit to analyse the particular development problems facing countries in the South and provide intellectual and policy support for developing countries.

Jerry John Rawlings

Jerry John Rawlings (b.1947) was President of Ghana from 1993 to 2001. He had previously acted as Head of State from 1981 to 1993, seizing power as a leading flight lieutenant during a military coup. This was Rawlings’ second ascent to power through a coup – he had previously acted as Head of State in 1979 during the transitional period to civilian government following the overthrow of General Fred Akuffo.

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.

Quett Masire

Quett Ketumile Joni Masire (b.1925) was President of Botswana from 1980 to 1998. A leading figure in his country’s independence movement, Masire’s long tenure as President was at the helm of the Botswana Democratic Party. After retiring from office, Masire became involved with several diplomatic initiatives across Africa, including in Rwanda, the Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana and Swaziland.

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.

Asian financial crisis

The 1997 Asian financial crisis was a period of economic collapse following the much-celebrated ‘Asian economic miracle’ of the late 1980s and 1990s. The crisis was provoked by the collapse of the Thai bhat due to severe financial overextension and a real estate bubble, triggering a chain reaction across South East Asia of slumping currencies, devalued stock markets and the withdrawal of foreign capital. Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia and the Philippines were among the most affected countries.

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.

Brundtland Commission

The Brundtland Commission – officially the World Commission on Environment and Development – was a UN initiative set up in 1983 to address concerns about the deterioration of the human environment and natural resources. It was chaired by the former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland, and issued an influential report in 1987 entitled ‘Our Common Future’.

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.

NIEO (New International Economic Order)

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.

Washington Consensus

The term ‘Washington Consensus’ is used to describe a set of economic policy prescriptions that became standard practice in the 1980s for several Washington-based institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in their dealings with developing countries. These prescriptions include policies of deregulation, the opening of national economies to foreign trade and investment, and the facilitation of market forces domestically, priorities which are seen to be representative of an emerging ‘neo-liberal’ tendency in the era.

Langkawi Declaration

The Langkawi Declaration was a declaration issued at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malaysia, 1981, which outlines several commitments to be taken by member countries on issues of environmental sustainability and climate change. Click here to read the Declaration in full.

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.

Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (b. 1944). Uganadan politician and leader of the National Resistance Movement Party (NRM), he has been President of Uganda since 1986. He was Chairperson-in-Office of the Commonwealth, 2007-09.

Gordon Brown

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.

UNDP

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

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).

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).

Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals are a series of eight development goals adopted in 2000 following the United Nations Millennium Summit.

Vince Cable

Vince Cable (b. 1943). British politician and member of the Liberal Democrat party. He was economic advisor to the Commonwealth Secretary-General in the 1970s and 80s.

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.

Idi Amin

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

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.

West Indies Federation

The brief (1958-1962) political union between British colonies in the Caribbean, that was intended to become independent from Britain as a single state.

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.

Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh (b. 1932). Indian politician and economist, he served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014.

Kamalesh Sharma

Kamalesh Sharma (b. 1941). Indian diplomat, Commonwealth Secretary-General from 2008-2016.

Shridath Ramphal

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

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. An global economic organisation of 34 countries to promote economic progress and international trade, founded in 1961.

ODA

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.

General Obasanjo (Olusegun Obasanjo)

Olusegun Obasanjo (b. 1937). Nigerian Head of Federal Military Government (1976-1979) and President (1999-2007). He was Co-Chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa (1985-1986).

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).

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.

Dr Mahathir (Mahathir bin Mohamad)

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (b. 1925). Malaysian politician and Prime Minister (1981-2003).

John Major

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

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.

Geoffrey Howe

Geoffrey Howe (b. 1926). Lord Howe of Aberavon. British politician, held various Cabinet positions in Margaret Thatcher’s government including Foreign Secretary (1983-1989).

John Howard

John Howard (b.1939). Prime Minister of Australia (1996-2007).

G20

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

The group of 7 nations deemed the most industrialised, first formed in 1975 originally with 6 members.

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.

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.

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.

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.

BBC

British Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting organisation semi-autonomous from the British government, originally founded in 1922.

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Formed in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a political and economic organization of Southeast Asian countries.

Owen Arthur

Owen Arthur (b. 1949). Prime Minister of Barbados from 1994 to 2008.

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.

Interview with Kamalesh Sharma

Interview with Ambassador Muchkund Dubey

Interview with Amitav Banerji

Interview with Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin

Interview with Moses Anafu

Interview with Indrajit Coomaraswamy

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