Glossary

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S Rajaratnam -  Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (1915-2006) was a Singaporean political figure who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1980 to 1985. Rajaratnam was a long-serving Minister and member of the Cabinet (1959-88) of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Notably, he served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1965 to 1980.
SAARC -  The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985 to coordinate economic, political and socio-cultural interaction across the South Asian region. Its eight member countries include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is head-quartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Saba Saba Day -  7th July, celebrates the founding of the Tanganyika African National Union.
SABC -  South African Broadcasting Corporation is a South African radio and television broadcaster, established in 1936.
SACP -  South African Communist party, founded in 1921.
SACTU -  South African Congress of Trade Unions. A federation of South African trade unions opposed to apartheid, founded in 1955.
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.
SADCC -  The South African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) was a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation signed in Lusaka, Zambia, in April 1980 between Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Conference set the foundations for the South African Development Community (SADC), formalised in 1992.
Saddam Hussein -  Saddam Hussein (1937-2006). President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003.
SAG -  South African Government.
Salim Salim -  Salim Ahmed Salim (b. 1942). Tanzanian diplomat and politician, Prime Minister (1984-1985), Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity (1989-2001).
Salleh Abas -  Tun Jaji Mohamed Salleh bin Abas (b.1929) is a Malaysian jurist who served as Lord President of the Federal Court of Malaysia from 1984 to 1988. Abas was dismissed from this post during the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis, during which he came into conflict with Prime Minister Mahathir over the autonomy of the judiciary.
Salmin Amour -  Salmin Amour (b.1948) is a Tanzanian political figure who served as President of Zanzibar from 1990 to 2000. He is associated with the dominant Tanzanian political party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
Salv Stellini -  Salv Stellini is a Maltese diplomat who served as Ambassador to the United States and Ireland as well as High Commissioner in London. In the 1970s he was seconded to the Commonwealth Secretariat and worked alongside Secretary General Sonny Ramphal. He would later act as CHOGM Task Force chairman leading up to the 2005 meeting in Valetta, Malta.
Sam Kauona -  Sam Kauona Sirivi was a Bougainville secessionist leader whose organisation, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), was established in 1989 to rebel against the Government of Papua New Guinea. A former soldier, Kauona led military operations for the BRA under Francis Ona as commander-in-chief.
Sam Nujoma -  Sam Nujoma (b. 1929). Namibian politician and resistance leader. He was leader of SWAPO (1960-2007) and President of Namibia (1990-2005).
- Synonyms: Nujome
Sam Odaka -  Sam Odaka was Uganda’s Foreign Minister from 1966 to 1971 and a close confidante of President Milton Obote.
Samora Machel -  Samora Machel (1933-1996). Mozambican soldier and politician, served as President (1975-1986).
Samuel Kavuma -  Samuel Kavuma is a Ugandan political figure and former student leader who served as interim Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Congress. He is Chairman/President of the National Youth Council of Uganda (2011-16), and was the Youth Representative to the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (2010-11)
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).
San Francisco Conference -  The United Nations Conference on International Organization took place in San Francisco, April-June 1945 and resulted in the creation of the United Nations Charter.
Sandinistas -  Sandinistas is the name given to members of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (SNLF), a democratic socialist political party in Nicaragua. The party’s name is a tribute to the 1930s Nicaraguan resistance leader Augusto César Sandino. In 1979, the SNLF overthrew the Nicaraguan government and established a revolutionary junta, ruling the country until 1990.
Sandy Woodward -  Sandy Woodward (1932-2013). British admiral commanded the British task force during the 1982 Falklands War.
Sani Abacha -  General Sani Abacha (1943-1998). Nigerian army general and politician. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.
- Synonyms: Abacha
Sarah Palin -  Sarah Palin (b.1964) is an American political figure who served as Governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009. She was the Republican Party’s Vice Presidential candidate in the 2008 United States Presidential election, alongside Arizona Senator John McCain.
Sasol -  Sasol Limited is an energy and chemical company that was formed in Sasolburg, South Africa in 1950. Now operating in 38 countries around the world, its South African operation remains its largest, focusing on mining, gas, synfuels and oil. Its main plant in the province of Mpumalanga is the only commercial coal-to-liquid energy plant in the world.
Satya Nandan -  Satya N Nandan is a Fijian diplomat and lawyer who was representative of Fiji at the UN (1970-76 and 93-95), and Fiji’s Ambassador to the European Union (1976-80). Nandan has served as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, and in 2009 was appointed Chairman of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
SDL Party -  Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, otherwise known as the SDL Party or the United Fiji Party, was a Fijian political party founded in 2001 by the Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and absorbing much of the former Christian Democratic Alliance. In 2013, responding to new legislation from the Fijian military regime, the SDL Party was rebranded with an English name, the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA).
SDP/ Liberal Alliance -  The SDP/Liberal Alliance was an electoral alliance in British politics formed by the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party in 1981, but which failed to make a political breakthrough in the 1983 elections. The alliance soured after David Owen assumed leadership of the SDP in 1983.
Sean Moroney -  Sean Moroney (b. 1952). South African journalist and anti-apartheid campaigner.
SEATO -  The South East Asia Treaty Organization. Formed as an international organization for collective defence in 1954, it also funded cultural and educational programs. It was dissolved in 1977.
- Synonyms: South East Asia Treaty Organization
Security Council -  A body, part of the United Nations organisation, charged with upholding of global peace and security.
Selous Scouts -  The Selous Scouts was a special forces regiment of the Rhodesian Army charged with countering terrorism in the country, largely during the period of the Rhodesian Bush War. The Scouts operated from 1973 until the establishment of Zimbabwe in 1980.
Selous Street -  London street that housed the headquarters of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. The street was named after a relative of Frederick Selous (1851-1917), a big game hunter and friend of Cecil Rhodes, and was re-named Mandela Street.
Semei Nayanzi -  Semei Nayanzi (1931-2008) was an influential Ugandan businessman and economics lecturer at Makerere University who was appointed Chairman of the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) by Prime Minister Milton Obote in 1964. Nayanzi left Uganda for the UK in 1973, following Idi Amin’s seizure of power, and did not return, though he acted as Presidential Advisor during Yusufu Lule’s brief period in power in 1979.
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.
Seretse Khama -  Sir Seretse Khama (1921-1980) was the 1st President of Botswana and leader of the country’s independence movement from Britain. He founded the Botswana Democratic Party in 1962 and became Prime Minister in 1965. In 1966, upon independence, he became President and held this position until his death in 1980.
Seven Wise Men -  An informal title used to describe the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) appointed by the Commonwealth in 1985 to investigate apartheid in South Africa. The South African EPG was comprised of two co-chairmen – General Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria) and Malcolm Fraser (Australia) - and five others: Anthony Barber (Britain); Dame Nita Barrow (Barbados); John Malecela (Tanzania); Swaran Singh (India); Archbishop Edward Scott (Canada).
Sevu sevu -  Sometimes ‘sevusevu’. A Fijian ceremonial offering, in which the whale’s tooth, orTabua, is a high-status offering.
Seymour Mullings -  Seymour St. Edward Mullings (1931-2013) was a Jamaican politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister under leader of the People’s National Party PJ Patterson (1993-2001). Mullings was Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade in the earlier Michael Manley cabinet.
Shastri -  Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904-1966). Indian politician, served as Prime Minister form 1964 to 1966.
Sheik Abdul Rahman -  Sheik Abdul Rahman (1920-1975). Bangladeshi independence leader. First President of Bangladesh (1971-1972) and later Prime Minister (1972-1975).
Sheikh Hasina -  Sheikh Hasina (b. 1947). Bangledeshi politician and Prime Minister (1996-2001, 2009-).
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -  Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975) was a Bengali politician and nationalist leader who served as the first President of an independent Bangladesh from 1971 to 1972. He was a key protagonist in the build up to the Bangladesh Liberation War, during which he was imprisoned in West Pakistan. Sheikh Mujib was later Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1972-75) and then President again before his assassination by junior army officers in the August 1975 coup d’état.
- Synonyms: Sheikh Mujib
Shell House -  Shell House was the official headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1990 until 1997. It was located on 1 Plein Street, Johannesburg, South Africa. On 28 March 1994, it was the site of violence following a confrontation between ANC guards and supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
Shelley Whiting -  Shelley Whiting is a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who was appointed her country's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in 2012. Whiting had previously served with Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and as Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina (2003-06).
Shirley Amarasinghe -  Hamilton Shirley Amarasinghe (1913-1980) was a diplomat and civil servant who served as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1967 to 1980. He was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1976, and a key figure in negotiations to draft the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Shona -  a Bantu language spoken by the Shona peoples of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Shridath Ramphal -  Shridath Surendranath 'Sonny' Ramphal (b. 1928). Guyanese politician, second Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990).
- Synonyms: Sonny Ramphal
Shula Marks -  Shula Eta Marks (b.1938) is a South African historian who was an anti-apartheid activist based for the large part of her career in the United Kingdom. She was Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies from 1983 to 1993, having lectured at the Institute since 1963. She was later affiliated with the School of Oriental and African Studies (1993-2001).
Siad Barre -  Siad Barre (1919-1995). Soldier and military ruler of Somalia from 1969 to 1991.
Simon Jenkins -  Simon Jenkins (b. 1943). British journalist, editor of the Times from 1990 to 1992.
Simon Murdoch -  Simon Murdoch (b.1948) is a New Zealand-born diplomat and civil servant who served as Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1991 to 1998. He had previously been Foreign Affairs advisor to Robert Muldoon in the 1980s, and Head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Advisory Group, 1989-91.
Simonstown Agreement -  Under the Simonstown Agreement of 1955, Britain surrendered its naval base at Simonstown, South Africa, and handed command of the South African Navy to the government of South Africa. In return, South Africa agreed to allow Britain use of the port for Royal Navy ships. The Agreement also allowed for the sale of naval arms - valued at £18m over eight years - from Britain to the apartheid regime in South Africa. The Agreement was terminated in 1975, although British naval vessels continued to call at Simonstown and other South African ports.
Singapore Declaration -  The Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles was adopted at the 1971 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Singapore. Click here to read the Declaration in full.
Singapore Heads of Government conference -  The 1971 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was held in Singapore under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The Singapore Declaration was issued at this summit.
Sir David Beattie -  Sir David Beattie (1924-2001) was the 14th Governor-General of New Zealand. In this office from 1980 to 1985, he served under the Robert Muldoon and David Lange governments.
Sir Hugh Beadle -  Sir Hugh Beadle (1905-1980). Southern Rhodesian judge, he accompanied the Governor of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Humphrey Gibbs, to the talks on HMS Tiger.
Sir Michael Hardie-Boys -  Sir Michael Hardie-Boys, b.1931, was the 17th Governor-General of New Zealand. In this office from 1996-2001, he served under the Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark governments.
Sir Michael Jeffery -  Sir Michael Jeffery, b.1937, was the 24th Governor-General of Australia. In this office from 2003-2008, he served under the administrations of John Howard and Kevin Rudd.
Sir Roger Carrick -  Sir Roger Carrick, b.1937, is a British diplomat and author. Joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1958, he served in Sofia, Paris and Singapore, and was Consul-General at Chicago (1985-88), Assistant Under-Secretary (Economic) at the FCO (1988-90), Ambassador to Indonesia (1990-94) and High Commissioner to Australia (1994-97).
Sir Saville Garner -  Joseph John Saville Garner, Baron Garner (1908-83). British Diplomat. He was Deputy Under-Secretary of State, Commonwealth Relations Office and from 1956-61 was British High Commissioner to Canada.
Sir William Dale -  Sir William Leonard Dale (1906-2000). Lawyer and civil servant. In 1961 he became legal adviser to the Commonwealth Relations Office, and also worked at the Africa Office dealing with the break-up of the Central African Federation. In 1983 he published The Modern Commonwealth.
Sirimavo Bandaranaike -  Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (1916-2000) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as Prime Minister of Ceylon and Sri Lanka three times: 1960-65, 1970-77, and 1994-2000. Bandaranaike had been associated with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was widow of the first national Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, assassinated in 1959.
- Synonyms: Mrs Bandaranaike
Sisters in Islam -  Sisters in Islam is a Malaysian NGO founded in 1988 and focusing its work on promoting the rights of women in the framework of both Islamic and universal human rights. The organisation was led for two decades by the prominent Malaysian activist Zainah Anwar.
Sitiveni Rabuka -  Sitiveni Rabuka (b. 1948). Fijian soldier, led to military coups in 1987, and later elected Prime Minister (1992-1999).
- Synonyms: Rabuka
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.
SM Koya -  Siddiq Moidin Koya (1924-1993) was a Fijian Indian politician and leader of the National Federation Party.
Small Island Developing States -  The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a group of developing countries recognised as a distinct group by the United Nations, initially at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. Group activity among the SIDS has been defined by the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action, which focuses on sustainable development.
Smith Regime -  The ‘Smith Regime’ refers to the tenure of Ian Douglas Smith as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979, a controversial period of white minority rule and sustained conflict with black nationalist guerilla groups led by Robert Mugabe, among others.
SNAFU -  Military slang meaning that a situation is bad, but that this is the normal state of affairs.
Socialist International -  The Socialist International is a London-based worldwide coalition of democratic socialist, social-democratic and labour political parties. Formed in 1951 as a successor to Labour and Socialist International, it now includes around 160 member parties from more than 100 countries.
SODELPA -  The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) is a political party in Fiji, formed in 2013 after the dissolution of its predecessor, Laisenia Qarase’s Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL Party). In 2013, its leader was Teimumu Kepa.
soft power -  A concept used to explain an emphasis on a attracting and co-opting power as opposed to coercive or forceful power.
Soli Sorabjee -  Soli Jehangir Sorabjee (b.1930) is an Indian jurist who served as Attorney General of India from 1998 to 2004. He was previously Solicitor General of India from 1977 to 1980, and had been a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India from 1971.
Sonia Gandhi -  Sonia Gandhi (b. 1946). Indian politician. President of the Indian National Congress Party since 1998. She is the widow of the former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.
Soonu Kochar -  Soonu Kochar was an Indian diplomat who served as her country’s Ambassador to Holland, Argentina and France. While acting as India’s High Commissioner to Fiji in the 1980s, Kochar was accused of interfering in Fiji’s domestic politics and expelled by Ratu Mara in a period of heightened political and racial tension in the country.
South African Defence Force -  The South African Defence Force (SADF) was the name of the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994, to be succeeded in 1994 by the South African National Defence Force. The SADF combined a conventional military strategy of securing the borders of the Republic with a mandate to counter internal threats to the state. During apartheid, this involved quelling violent opposition to minority rule.
- Synonyms: SADF
South African Democracy Education Trust -  The South African Democracy Education Trust (SADET) was established in 2000 to consolidate historical materials concerning South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and transition to democracy. It is based in Pretoria and is assisted by private sector funding. Its first project on ‘The Road to Democracy in South Africa’ has produced a considerable archive of oral history materials.
- Synonyms: SADET
South African Reserve Bank -  The central bank of South Africa, founded in 1921.
South Asia Regional Fund -  The South Asia Regional Fund (SARF) is a development fund established in 1997 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Edinburgh. It is managed by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), based in Mauritius, and aims to promote growth through direct equity and equity-related investments in private sector companies operating in South Asia.
- Synonyms: SARF
South Asian Free Trade Area -  The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was established in 2004 at the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad, Pakistan. The SAFTA agreement was signed by the foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and aims to create a free trade area among the 1.6 billion people in this region.
- Synonyms: SAFTA
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.
South Commission -  The South Commission was established in 1987 during a meeting of non-aligned countries in Harare, Zimbabwe. Chaired by Julius Nyerere and with Manmohan Singh as Secretary General, the Commission was tasked with analysing those particular challenges facing countries in the South. In 1990, it produced the influential report ‘The Challenge to the South’, responding in part to the fallout of the 1983 Brandt Commission report. The Commission led to the establishment of the South Centre - an international think tank head-quartered in Geneva - in 1995.
South East Asia Security Arrangement -  The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) refer to a series of bilateral agreements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom in 1971, establishing a defence relationship to protect Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore from external aggression.
- Synonyms: Five Power Defence Agreement
South Pacific Forum -  The South Pacific Forum was an international organisation formed in 1971 to facilitate cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. In 1999, it was renamed the Pacific Islands Forum.
South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement -  The South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (SPARTECA) is an agreement between the Pacific Islands Forum and Australia and New Zealand, in which the latter two countries allow developing island states preferential access to their markets. The textiles, clothing and footwear industries of Pacific Islands Forum members has benefited particularly from SPARTECA.
- Synonyms: SPARTECA
Soviet Bloc -  The Soviet Union and its allies during the period of the Cold War (1945-1991). The Soviet Bloc comprised countries with a communist system of government, and was opposed to the United States and its allies.
Spinola -  Antonio de Spinola (1910-1996). Portuguese military officer and politician, served as President of Portugal from May-September 1974.
Springboks tour of New Zealand -  The 1981 South African Rugby Union tour to New Zealand in 1981 was controversial as it broke the Gleneagles Agreement adopted at the 1977 CHOGM which had agreed a sports boycott on South African sportsmen and sporting teams. Though party to the agreement, the New Zealand government allowed the tour to go ahead.
Squattocracy -  ‘Squattocracy’ is a term specific to Australian history which describes the political and social power of people who illegally settled Crown land in the nineteenth century and who became wealthy from exploiting the territory. The term – a play on the English ‘aristocracy’ – is still used in Australia to describe large landowners in rural areas with a history of pastoral occupation.
Sri Lankan Civil War -  A civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and Tamil insurgents, fought intermittently from 1983 to 2009.
Ssemogerere -  Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere (b.1932) was a prominent Ugandan politician, leading the Democratic Party for 25 years before his retirement in 2005. Ssemogerere was a Presidential Candidate in the disputed 1980 elections won by Milton Obote, and later served as Minister of Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Public Service in the government of Yoweri Museveni. He resigned from government posts in 1996 to stand as opposition leader in the national elections.
Stalin -  Joseph Stalin (1878-1953). Leader of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953.
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.
Statute of Westminster -  The 1931 Statute of Westminster was an Act of British Parliament recognising the legislative independence of the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire. After it was passed, the British government could no longer make ordinary laws for its Dominions – Canada, the Irish Free State, the Union of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland – other than at the Dominion’s request. Click here to view the original document in full.
Stephen Chan -  Stephen Chan is Professor of International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has an extensive background as an international civil servant, and has been involved in several diplomatic initiatives in Africa, especially in the arena of electoral observation.
Stephen Ellis -  Professor Stephen Ellis is an historian and former editor of the journal African Affairs. He has written broadly on issues as diverse as the African National Congress in exile, the Liberian Civil War, religion and politics in Africa, and the history of Madagascar.
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.
Stephen Low -  Stephen Low (1927-2010) was an American diplomat who served as US Ambassador to Zambia (1976-79) and Nigeria (1979-81). He was later Director of the Foreign Services Institute (1982-87).
Steve Matlin -  Steve Matlin is a British scientist and education consultant who served as Director of the Health and Education Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1995 to 2001. He was later Chief Education Adviser to the UK Department for International Development (2001-02), and appointed Executive Director of the Global Forum for Health Research in 2004.
Steve Packer -  Steve Packer. Worked for the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Department for International Development.
Steve Tshwete -  Steve Tshwete (1938-2002) was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. He was imprisoned in Robben Island from 1964 to 1983 and later lived in exile, returning to South Africa in 1990 as regional coordinator for the new United Democratic Front. He was Minister of Sport and Recreation (1994-99) and subsequently Minister of Safety and Security (1999-2002) in the post-apartheid government.
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty -  The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was a bilateral treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1991, barring the signatories from deploying nuclear warheads, inter-continental ballistic missiles and bombers. Implemented in 1994, it resulted in the removal of around 80 percent of strategic nuclear weapons in existence by 2001. START was succeeded by the New START in 2010.
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.
Suez Crisis -  The British-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956, abandoned because of international condemnation.
Sullivan codes -  The Sullivan principles are a set of corporate codes of conduct developed by African-American preacher Reverend Leon Sullivan during his time on the board of General Motors in the 1970s. Focused on promoting corporate social responsibility and an end to racial segregation in the workplace, the principles were originally introduced in 1977 to pressure multinational corporations operating in apartheid South Africa. A new, ‘global’ set of Sullivan principles were introduced in 1999 in cooperation with the United Nations.
SWANU -  South West Africa National Union. A Namibian socialist political party, founded in 1959.
SWAPO -  South West Africa People’s Organisation. A Namibian political party founded in 1960 to campaign for independence; it has governed Namibia since 1990.
SWB -  BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. Reports published by the BBC providing a sample of monitored world broadcasts. Produced from 1939 to 1997.
Sword of Honour -  The ‘Sword of Honour’ is an award recognising the best overall British Army Officer Cadet at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, as selected by the Commandant of the Academy.
Sydney Mufamadi -  Sydney Mufamadi (b.1959). South African politician, who served as a minister in the governments of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki (1994-2008).