The Commonwealth of Learning

Chief Anyaoku became the third Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in July 1990 with a mandate to help member countries build strong democracies guaranteeing individual liberty and human rights, while at the same time assisting in the major task of their sustainable development. With a career that spans over 30 years of initiatives and negotiations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific, he has been instrumental in influencing profound changes effecting East-West/North-South relationships and the Commonwealth. He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees.

Previously, he was Director of International Affairs and then Deputy Commonwealth Secretary-General with responsibility for international affairs and the administration of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Prior to being seconded to the Commonwealth, Chief Anyaoku served in Nigeria’s diplomatic and foreign service. During 1983, at the request of the civilian government, he returned to his native Nigeria to serve as Foreign Minister. He rejoined the Secretariat in 1984.

Minister Mottley did not use a prepared speech.  She agreed to have her remarks transcribed from the videotape recording.

The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley was elected to the Barbados parliament in September 1994, as part of Owen Arthur’s new Barbados Labour Party government. Appointed Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture in the first cabinet, she became a key player in developing the government’s job-creation initiative, and authored a well-known white paper that draws the link between better education and job fulfilment. In 1996, she served as Chairman of the CARICOM Standing Committee of Ministers of Education (Caribbean Community).

Mia Mottley is lawyer by profession. With a law degree from the London School of Economics, she is a Barbados Attorney-at-Law and a Barrister of the Bar of England and Wales.

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The Right Honourable Clare Short
Secretary of State for International Development
Britain

Presentation topic:  Education, ICT and Globalisation

A former civil servant at the Home Office, The Rt. Hon. Clare Short entered the British House of Commons in 1983 as the Member of Parliament for the Midlands constituency of Birmingham Ladywood, which she has held since then. She was appointed Secretary of State for International Development, responsible for Britain’s programme of assistance to developing countries, following the 1997 General Election.

From 1996 until 1997 she was Opposition spokesperson on overseas development, and was Shadow Minister for women from 1993 to 1995 and Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from 1995 to 1996. Clare Short has also been Opposition spokesperson on environment protection, social security and employment. She was Chair of the All-Party Group on Race Relations from 1985 to 1986 and is currently Chair of the Human Rights Committee of Socialist International.

This presentation was delivered via videotape, in the form of an interview.

Presentation title: The Knowledge Revolution: Opportunities and risks for developing countries

The Honourable Maurice Strong has had a distinguished international career that has embraced the private, governmental and non-governmental realms. He is currently Chairman of both the Earth Council and the World Resources Institute and is a director of several energy and technology-related companies.

He has played a key role in shaping international policy and action in matters relating to the environment and development, notably as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and as Secretary-General of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (The Earth Summit). He was also the first President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Mr. Strong has also played a significant role in involving non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in international development and co-operation.

Noah Samara is the founder and CEO of WorldSpace and its subsidiaries; AfriSpace, AmeriSpace, AsiaSpace and CaribSpace. With its subsidiaries, WorldSpace is the first and only company to obtain licenses to provide international direct broadcast satellite radio services in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

Before founding WorldSpace, Mr. Samara advised several global telecommunications and broadcasting concerns, including the International Telecommunications Union, on a wide range of issues regarding global business and regulations for mobile, portable and satellite communications.

Mr. Samara has received Master’s degrees from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and the University of California as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Georgetown University Law School. He has also published numerous articles.

During the past seventeen years, Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan ("Raj") has participated in establishing a number of distance education systems in South and Southeast Asia. Starting his career as a research officer and lecturer with the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Science Malaysia, he later served as Associate Professor in Distance Education and Deputy Director of the university’s Centre for Off-Campus Studies.

In 1989, he joined the newly established Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong (now the Open University of Hong Kong) as Associate Director (Academic) and served as Director from 1991 – 1995. He was appointed President of The Commonwealth of Learning in September 1995.

Professor Dhanarajan is a Malaysian citizen and holds degrees from the Universities of Madras and London, a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Aston in Birmingham, and several honorary degrees.