Sir Shridath "Sonny" Ramphal

Sir Shridath "Sonny" Ramphal GCMG, QC served as Commonwealth Secretary-General from 1975 to 1990. He previously was the Foreign Minister of Guyana, from 1972 to 1975. He was in 1995 one of the co-chairs of the Commission on Global Governance, which reported on issues of international development, international security, globalization and global governance. Sir Shridath is widely considered the Caribbean's leading international statesman. In the 1980s he served on five independent international commissions, the Brandt Commission on International Development, the Palme Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues, the Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development, the Commission on Humanitarian Issues, and the South Commission. He was also co-chair with Sweden's Prime Minister, Ingvar Carlsson, of the Independent Commission on Global Governance. Following his tenure at the Commonwealth Secretariat he was appointed by the heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as their Chief Negotiator for international economic negotiations, with Europe, the Americas and globally. Sir Ramphal has also provided intellectual leadership in trade and development, and the strengthening of multilateralism.