Glossary

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East African Community -  The East African Community (EAC) was founded in 1967 to strengthen ties between five countries in the African Great Lakes region - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda - via a common market, a common customs tariff and a range of public services. Disagreements among the members caused the group to dissolve in 1977, but the EAC was reformed in 2000. A new customs union was established in 2005.
- Synonyms: EAC
East Asia Economic Caucus -  The East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) was a proposed regional free trade zone suggested in 1990 by Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad. The EAEC was a response to the absorption of ASEAN into the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, offering a forum that would be free of influence from North America and Australia. The proposal was never put into action.
ECOMOG -  The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a multilateral armed force established to facilitate cooperation between countries on security efforts in the West African region. ECOMOG forces were mobilised to intervene in the Civil War in Liberia in 1990 and remained in the country until 1998. They were also deployed in Sierra Leone in 1997 and Guinea-Bissau in 1999.
Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries -  The promotion of ‘Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries’ (ECDC) is a central principle of the Group of 77 countries, providing the focus for a number of conferences and collaborative activities, notably the 1981 Caracas Programme of Action on ECDC and the 1986 Cairo Declaration.
- Synonyms: ECDC
Economic Partnership Agreement -  Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) aim to facilitate free trade between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group). They involve the progressive removal of trade barriers between participating countries.
ECOSOC -  United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is a principal organ of the United Nations and coordinates the economic and social work of more specialized UN agencies.
ECOWAS -  Economic Community of West African States. An international organisation founded in 1975.
Ed Dommen -  Edward Dommen is a Swiss economist who spent his career as a researcher for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He also served as president of the Scientific Committee of the Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN).
Edinburgh Games -  The 1986 Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, boycotted by a large number of African, Asian and Caribbean states due to Thatcher’s refusal to support a sporting boycott of apartheid South Africa.
Edson Zvobgo -  Edson Zvobgo (1935-2004) was a Zimbabwean political figure who acted as the Patriotic Front’s spokesperson at the Lancaster House negotiations in 1979 and founded the party ZANU-PF. Zvobgo served several cabinet positions in the government of Robert Mugabe, including Minister of Local Government and Housing (1980-82), Minister of Justice (1982-85) and Minister of Parliament and Constitutional Affairs (1985-92).
Edward Bloustein -  Edward J Bloustein (1925-1989) was an American legal scholar and University administrator who served as President of Rutgers University from 1971 to 1989. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell Law Review, a lecturer in the New York University School of Law (1961-65), and President of Bennington College (1965-71).
- Synonyms: Professor Bloustein
Edward du Cann -  Edward du Cann (b.1924) is a British political figure who was a Member of Parliament from 1956 to 1987. He was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1967 and Chairman of the 1922 Committee from 1972 to 1984.
Edward Heath -  Edward Heath (1916 –2005). British politician and Prime Minister (1970-1974).
- Synonyms: Ted Heath
Edward Scott -  Archbishop Edward Scott (1919-2004) was the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada from 1971 to 1986. He was a member of the seven-person Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group sent to investigate apartheid in South Africa in 1985. In 1988, he was awarded the Pearson Prize Medal.
Edward Seaga -  Edward Seaga (b.1930). Jamaican politician and Prime Minister (1980-1989).
Edwin Ogebe Ogbu -  Edwin Ogebe Ogbu (b.1926) was a Nigerian diplomat who served as his country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1968 to 1975. In this position, Ogbu was Chairman of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid (1972-75). He also served simultaneously as High Commissioner of Nigeria to Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana (1970-74).
EEC -  European Economic Community. An international organisation of European states, founded in 1957. Renamed the European Union in 1993.
Eleni Stamiris -  Eleni Stamiris is a Greek policy advisor and consultant who served as Director of Gender and Youth Affairs in the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1993 to 1999. She was previously Director of the Mediterranean Women’s Study Institute (1981-90) and later Director of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (1999-2001).
Elephant Hills -  A hotel and resort in Zimbabwe.
Elizabeth II -  Elizabeth II (b. 1926). Head of State of the United Kingdom and 15 other countries, and Head of the Commonwealth (from 1952).
Elizabeth of Toro -  Princess Elizabeth of Toro (b.1936) is a Ugandan politician and diplomat who is the Batebe of the Kingdom of Toro. She was the first East African woman to be called to the English bar and, in 1974, served briefly as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Idi Amin. Under Yoweri Museveni, Elizabeth has served as Ambassador to the United States, Germany, and the Vatican and High Commissioner to Nigeria.
Elspeth Howe -  Elspeth Howe, Baroness Howe of Idlicote, (b.1932) is British political figure who served as Deputy Chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission from 1975 to 1979, and later Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission.
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).
Emmanuel Akwetey -  Dr Emmanuel O Akwetey is a Ghanaian academic and political commentator who served as founding Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) in Ghana. IDEG was established in 2000. Akwetey was a member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (2010-11) and has also worked with the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the UNDP.
Emmanuel Lumu -  Dr Emmanuel B Lumu was Uganda’s first Minister of Health following independence from Britain in 1962. He was MP for Kyadondo North.
Empire Service -  BBC radio network for the British Empire, founded in 1932. A predecessor of the BBC World Service.
English Speaking Union -  A British educational charity with a number of international branches, founded in 1918.
Enoch Dumbutshena -  Enoch Dumbutshena (1920-2000) was a Zimbabwean judge who served as Chief Justice of his country from 1984 to 1990. He was Zimbabwe’s first black judge and a member of the International Commission of Jurists.
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.
Ephraim Akpata -  Ephraim Ibukun Akpata (b.1927) is a Nigerian jurist who served as the first Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In this position, Justice Akpata oversaw the 1998/99 elections process that ushered in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and democratic rule in the country.
Eric Gairy -  Sir Eric Matthew Gairy (1922-1997) was a Grenadian politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Grenada (1974-79). Gairy was also head of Government in pre-Independence Grenada, acting as Chief Minister (1961-62) and Premier (1967-74). He was overthrown in a coup led by Maurice Bishop in 1979.
- Synonyms: Gairy
Eric Williams -  Eric Williams (1911-1991). Trinidadian historian and politician, Chief Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (1956-1959), Premier (1959-1962), and Prime Minister (1962-1981).
Erika Theron -  The Erika Theron Commission was appointed to study the position of the non-white South African population, and to make recommendations as to how their position could be improved. The subsequent Report was published in June 1976.
- Synonyms: Theron Commission, Theron Report
Errol Barrow -  Errol Walton Barrow (1920-1987) was a Barbadian politician who served as Prime Minister of Barbados from 1966 to 1976. He had previously served as Premier of Barbados from 1961 to 1966, becoming the country’s first Prime Minister upon independence. Barrow was leader of the Democratic Labour Party.
Eschel Rhoodie -  Eschel Mostert Rhoodie (1933-1993) was a South African civil servant who acted as Secretary of the Department of Information between 1972 and 1977. In 1978-79, he was implicated in the ‘Muldergate Scandal’ involving Minister of Information Connie Mulder, which led to the resignation of BJ Vorster as State President. Mulder and Rhoodie had gained support from Vorster for a corrupt ‘propaganda war’ to defend the apartheid government from its critics.
EU -  European Union. International organisation of European states. Known as the European Economic Community before 1993.
Eugene TerreBlanche -  Eugène Terre’Blanche (1941-2010). Right-wing South African political activist, and founder of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, a political and paramilitary organisation.
Eugenia Charles -  Eugenia Charles (1919-2005). Dominican politician and Prime Minister (1980-1995).
European Development Fund -  Established in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome, and launched in 1959, today the EDF provides European Union development funding in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.