Glossary

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Jacinto Veloso -  Jacinto Veloso. Mozambican politician and member of the FRELIMO party. After Mozambican independence he served variously as Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister of Information.
Jack Marshall -  Sir John Ross ‘Jack’ Marshall (1912-1988) was a New Zealand politician who served briefly as his country’s Prime Minister in 1972. Marshall had been Deputy Prime Minister under Keith Holyoake from 1960 to 1972, and a Member of Parliament for the National Party since 1946.
Jacob Zuma -  Jacob Zuma (b.1942) is a South African politician who was elected President of South Africa in the 2009 general elections. He assumed office as President of the African National Congress in 2007 and was Deputy President of South Africa from 1999 to 2005.
Jacques Delors -  Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (b.1925) is a French political figure and economist who served as President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He was Minister of Finance from 1981 to 1984 in the government of Francois Mitterand.
Jaffna -  A city of northern Sri Lanka.
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.
Jakaya Kikwete -  Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (b.1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was elected President of Tanzania in 2005. Under his predecessor, Benjamin Mkapa, Kikwete was Minister of Foreign Affairs (1995-2005) and he previously served as Minister of Finance (1994-95). In 2008-09, Kikwete was Chairperson of the African Union.
- Synonyms: Kikwete
James Aggrey -  James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey (1875-1927) was a Ghanaian intellectual, missionary and teacher who was travelled throughout Africa in the 1920s to produce a report on prospects for educational improvement on behalf of the US-based Phelps Stokes Fund. Aggrey was himself trained in the United States as a missionary and was Minister of the African Methodists Zion church in Salisbury, North Carolina.
- Synonyms: Aggrey
James Callaghan -  James Callaghan (1912-2005). British politician, Foreign Secretary (1974-1976), and later Prime Minister (1976-1979).
- Synonyms: Jim Callaghan
James Chikerema -  James Robert Dambaza Chikerema (1925-2006) was a Zimbabwean political figure who was a founding member of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU) with Joshua Nkomo. Chikerema was later President of the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe, following the 1971 ZAPU split.
James Jonah -  James OC Jonah (b.1934) is a Sierra Leonean civil servant and diplomat who spent more than three decades working for the United Nations Secretariat in New York. He retired in 1994 as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, returning to New York as Sierra Leone’s permanent representative to the UN (1996-98) and later serving as Minister of Finance, Development and Economic Planning (1998-2001).
James Kanyotu -  James Kanyotu (1937-2008) was Head of Kenya’s ‘Special Branch’, the section of the Criminal Investigations Division responsible for Intelligence. He was appointed by Jomo Kenyatta in 1965 and held the position until his retirement in 1992, a period in which the Special Branch acquired much notoriety for suppressing opposition to Daniel Arap Moi’s government.
James Lemkin -  James Lemkin (1926-2008). Lawyer and political thinker. He was a member of the Bow Group Conservative think tank. He later founded the publication African Confidential, and, following Zambian independence, became personal adviser to Kenneth Kaunda.
Jan Smuts Airport -  An airport in Johannesburg, now known as O.R. Tambo International Airport.
Jane Connors -  Jane Connors is a senior human rights advocate who has served the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights since 2002, working variously as Chief of the Special Procedures Branch and as Director of the Research and Right to Development Division. Connors joined the UN in 1996 as Chief of the Women’s Rights Section in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. She had previously spent fifteen years as a lecturer in the Law Faculty at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Janet Singh -  Janet Singh was an official with the Commonwealth Secretariat who acted as Personal Assistant to Sir Shridath Ramphal when he was Secretary General.
Jawaharlal Nehru -  Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) was an Indian politician and prominent leader in the Indian National Congress-led movement for independence from colonial rule. He served as India's first Prime Minister from 1947 to his death in 1964. Nehru was also a key figure in the Non-Aligned Movement, present at its founding in Belgrade in 1961.
- Synonyms: Nehru
Jay Naidoo -  Jay Naidoo (b.1954). South African trade unionist and politician. Served as Secretary-General of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (1985-1993), in ministerial positions (1994-1999), and as Chairperson of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (2001-2010).
Jean Chrétien -  Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (b. 1934). Canadian politician. As leader of the Liberal Party, he was Prime Minister of Canada, 1993-2003.
- Synonyms: Chrétien
Jean-Jacques Blais -  Jean-Jacques Blais (b.1940) is a Canadian political figure who served in Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet as Minister of Supply and Services (1980-83) and Minister of National Defence (1983-84). In 1994 he was appointed Chair of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Ottawa, a position he held until retiring in 2002.
Jeane Kirkpatrick -  Jeane Kirkpatrick (1926-2006) was an American diplomat who served as US Ambassador to the United Nations from 1981 to 1985. An ardent anti-Communist, she sat on Ronald Reagan’s National Security Council, Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and Defense Policy Review Board.
Jeanne Schoenberger -  Jeanne Schoenberger is an international civil servant from New Zealand who worked for the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) in London, first as Tony Tasker’s Senior Executive Assistant and then in the office of David Anderson. She is married to the Western Samoan diplomat Tuiloma Neroni Slade.
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.
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.
Jerry Falwell -  Reverend Jerry Falwell (1933-1997) was a prominent American evangelical pastor and political commentator. His staunchly conservative views on society, religion and the family established him as a polarising figure in American public life.
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.
Jesse Helms -  Jesse Alexander Helms Jr (1921-2008) was an American politician who chaired the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001. A staunchly conservative member of the Republican party, Helms was Senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. He joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1979 during the government of Jimmy Carter.
JIC -  Joint Intelligence Committee. A committee that advises the British Cabinet on intelligence issues and leads the intelligence services.
Jim Bolger -  James “Jim” Bolger (b. 1935). New Zealand politician and member of the National Party. He was Prime Minister 1990-97, and leader of the opposition, 1986-90.
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.
Jim Wright -  James R Wright is a Canadian diplomat who served as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2011. Wright was previously Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister for the International Security Branch (2005-6) and Global and Security Policy Branch (2000-04).
Jimmy Carter -  James Earl 'Jimmy' Carter, Jr (b. 1924) is an American Democratic politician who served as 39th President of the United States (1977-1981).
Joan Wicken -  Joan Wicken (1925-2004) was a British public servant who worked for Julius Nyerere as his Personal Assistant in Tanzania from 1960 until the 1990s. Wicken ran the Dar es Salaam office of the South Centre – which evolved out of Nyerere’s South Commission – and helped set up the organisation’s Geneva headquarters.
Joaquim Chissano -  Joaquim Chissano (b. 1939). Mozambican politician and member of the Frelimo party. He served as Foreign Minister under Samora Machel and was later President (1986-2005).
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).
Joe Chamberlain -  Joseph Chamberlain (1936-1914). British politician, served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1895 to 1913.
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.
Joe Murumbi -  Joe Murumbi (1911-1990). Kenyan politician and Vice-President (1965-1966).
Joe Slovo -  Joe Slovo (1926-1995). South African politician, who served as Minister of Housing from 1994 to 1995. He was married to Ruth First.
Joe Zake -  Joseph Sengendo Zake, a Ugandan lawyer, was associated with the Uganda National Congress in the 1950s. In 1956 he helped found the United Congress Party.
Johann Kriegler -  Johann Christian Kriegler (b.1932) is a South African lawyer and jurist who served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 1994 to 2002. In 1993, Kriegler was appointed Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission ahead of South Africa’s first elections based on universal adult suffrage.
Johannes Degenaar -  Johannes Jacobus (Johan) Degenaar (b.1926) is a South African philosopher and Emeritus Professor at Stellenbosch University. From the 1960s Degenaar was active as an outspoken critic of the apartheid ideology in South Africa.
Johannes Geldenhuys -  General Johannes Geldenhuys (b.1935) was a South African military figure who served as Chief of the South African Defence Force (SADF) from 1985 to 1990. He is known for his work bringing to an end the South African Border War – or the Angola Bush War – in 1989, after some 23 years of conflict.
- Synonyms: General Geldenhuys
John Baird -  John Baird (b.1969) is a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Stephen Harper from 2011 to 2015. He was previously Minister of the Environment (2010-11) and Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (2008-10).
John Biffen -  William John Biffen, Baron Biffen, (1930-2007) was a British political figure who served as Conservative Leader of the House of Commons from 1982 to 1987. Biffen was previously Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1979-81), Secretary of State for Trade (1981-82) and Lord President of the Council (1982-83).
John Bolton -  John Robert Bolton (b.1948) is an American political figure who served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006. He was previously Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.
John Boynton -  Sir John Boynton (1918-2007) was a British public servant who spent much of his career in local government and was founder-president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives. Following his retirement from Cheshire County Council in 1979, Boynton agreed to act as Election Commissioner for Southern Rhodesia, overseeing the process through which Zimbabwe would emerge as an independent country.
John Carter -  Sir John Carter (1919-2005) was a Guyanese diplomat and politician who served as Guyana’s Ambassador to the United States, the United Nations and China, as well as High Commissioner to Canada, the United Kingdom and Jamaica. Prior to Guyanese independence he was involved with the London-based League of Coloured Peoples.
John Collinge -  John Collinge (b. 1939). New Zealand politician and diplomat.
John Compton -  Sir John Compton (1925–2007). Saint Lucian politician and Prime Minister (1979, 1982-1996, 2006-2007).
John Cumber -  Sir John A Cumber (1920-1991) was a British civil servant who served as Director General of Save the Children from 1976 to 1985. He had previously acted as a District Commissioner in Kenya prior to its independence in 1963, and was Administrator of the Cayman Islands (1964-68) and Commissioner of Anguilla (1969). Cumber joined Save the Children as a Field Officer in 1970.
John Diefenbaker -  John Diefenbaker (1895-1979). Canadian Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963.
John Falvey -  Sir John Neil Falvey was a New Zealand-born lawyer who served as Attorney General of Fiji from 1970 to 1977. He was previously legal adviser to the Fijian Affairs Board.
John Gorton -  Sir John Grey Gorton (1911-2002) was an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. A Senator from Victoria, he had previously served in a range of cabinet positions for the Liberal Party, including Minister for the Navy (1958-63), Minister for the Interior (1963-64), Minister for Works (1963-67) and Minister for Education and Science (1962-68).
John Howard -  John Howard (b.1939). Prime Minister of Australia (1996-2007).
John Key -  John Key, b.1961, is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, having assumed office in 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006.
John Kufuor -  John Kufuor (b.1938) is a Ghanian political figure who served as President of Ghana from 2001 to 2009, succeeding Jerry John Rawlings in a peaceful democratic transition of power. Kufuor was Chairperson of the African Union from 2007-08.
John Major -  John Major (b.1943). British politician, served, amongst other ministerial positions, as Foreign Secretary (1989) and Prime Minister (1990-1997).
John Malecela -  John Malecela (b.1934). Tanzanian politician, served on the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa (1985-1986) and as Prime Minister of Tanzania (1990-1994).
John McCain -  John McCain (b.1936) is an American political figure and former navy officer who assumed office as United States Senator from Arizona in 1987. In 2008, McCain was the Republican Presidential nominee for the United States presidential election.
John Syson -  John Syson (1939-2006) was an official with the Commonwealth Secretariat who, among other responsibilities, served as a key advisor to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation on matters relating to Southern Africa. Syson was also involved in negotiations around Mozambique’s entry into the Commonwealth in 1995.
Johnson Ndlovu -  Johnson Ndlovu (d.1994) was a Zimbabwean political figure who served in the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1972 to 1980. He entered politics in Zimbabwe following its independence and served as MP for Gwande North from 1989 to 1994.
Jomo Kenyatta -  Jomo Kenyatta (1893-1978). Kenyan politician, Prime Minister (1963-1964) and President (1964-1978).
Jomtien Conference -  Education for All is a UNESCO-led global movement working towards meeting the learning needs of children, youth and adults. Its origins are in the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990.
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).
Jon Snow -  Jon Snow (b.1947). British journalist, presenter of Channel 4 news (1989-).
Jonas Savimbi -  Jonas Malheiro Savimbi (1934-2002). Angolan politician and military leader, he founded and led UNITA.
Jonathan Powell -  Jonathan Powell (b.1956). British diplomat and political advisor, Downing Chief of Staff (1997-2007).
Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama -  Josaia Voreqe 'Frank' Bainimarama (b. 1954). Fijian naval officer and politician, Prime Minister of Fiji since 2007.
- Synonyms: Bainimarama
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.
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.
Joshua Nkomo -  Joshua Nkomo (1917-1999). Zimbabwean nationalist and leader of ZAPU.
- Synonyms: Nkomo
Josiah Tongogara -  Josiah Magama Tongogara (1938-1979) was a Zimbabwean nationalist leader who commanded the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) guerrilla forces against the Rhodesian regime. Tongogara was a major figure at the 1979 Lancaster House negotiations which led to Zimbabwe’s independence but was killed in a car crash six days after the agreement was signed.
Joy Tilsley -  Joy Tilsley was a Canadian civil servant who acted as Arnold Smith’s personal secretary during the early years of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Tilsley, on secondment from the Canadian Foreign Service, was Smith’s first appointment to the new organisation. Tilsley was subsequently a central figure in the Canadian branch of the Royal Commonwealth Society (1993-2014).
JR Jayewardene -  Junius Richard Jayewardene (1906-1996) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as Prime Minister of his country from 1977 to 1978 and President from 1978 to 1989. Jayewardene had been a leading nationalist figure in the Ceylon National Congress prior to independence from Britain in 1948. He was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1978 to 1979.
Judith Hart -  Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark (1924-1991). British politician. A member of the Labour Party, she was Minister of Overseas Development, 1969-70, 1974-75 and 1977-79.
Judith Todd -  Judith Todd (b.1943) is a Zimbabwean political activist who opposed the minority government of Ian Smith in Rhodesia from the 1960s. Todd was arrested in 1972 and then expelled from the country, settling in London and founding the Zimbabwe Project Trust. She returned to an independent Zimbabwe in 1980, where she has been a strong critic of Robert Mugabe’s rule. Todd’s father, Garfield Todd, was Rhodesia’s Prime Minister from 1953 to 1958.
Julia Gillard -  Julia Gillard (b.1961) is an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013.
Julian Amery -  Harold Julian Amery, Baron Amery of Lustleigh, (1919-1996) was a British Conservative politician who served as Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1972-74) in the government of Edward Heath. He had served previously as Minister for Housing and Construction (1970-72) and Minister of Public Buildings and Works (1970).
Julius Nyerere -  Julius Nyerere (1922-1999). Tanzanian politician and President (1961-1985).
Justice Msosa -  Justice Anastasia Msosa was appointed Chief Justice of Malawi in 2013, having previously served as Judge on the Supreme Court of Appeals and Chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission. In this latter position, she is credited with overseeing the first successful democratic elections in Malawi in 1994.
Jyoti Basu -  Jyotirindra Basu (1914-2010) was an Indian political figure who served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000. Basu was a central figure in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from the time of its founding in 1964, remaining a member of its Politburo until 2008.