CWIT HONOURS SIR SHRIDATH RAMPHAL

Caribbean Women in Trade (CWIT) joins the region in acknowledging the contributions and legacy of Sir Shridath Ramphal, who died on August 30, 2024. One of the region’s eminent and most-respected trade luminaries, many CWIT members are graduates of the Institute for International Trade Law & Services named in his honour. This article highlights the most noteworthy of the contributions which earned him that distinction.

Born in colonial Guyana from descendants of Indian indentured labourers, Sir Ramphal declared - I am Guyanese before I am Indian; I am West Indian before I am Guyanese… These words capture his dedication to Caribbean regional integration.

After completing his legal education in London, early in his career he served as legal draftsman and assistant attorney general to the West Indies Federal government until its dissolution. Sir Ramphal later served independent Guyana for over ten years as both attorney-general and foreign minister. As foreign minister, Sir Ramphal led Guyana’s delegation to the United Nations every year from 1967 to 1974 and was twice elected Vice-President of the General Assembly. In 1965, he was tasked with drafting the first Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) Agreement, the precursor to the Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973 that created the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

In 1975, Sir Ramphal became the second (and longest-serving) Commonwealth Secretary-General. In that role, he was a staunch advocate of trade sanctions on South Africa. Nelson Mandela once said of him: “He is one of those men who have become famous because, in their fight for human justice, they have chosen the whole world as their theatre.” Sir Ramphal also worked to strengthen the negotiating tactics of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, enabling them to win trade concessions during the negotiations for the first Lomé convention.

After retiring from the Commonwealth in 1990, Sir Ramphal held several other positions, including chair of the West Indian Commission which was tasked with reviewing the operation of the original Treaty of Chaguaramas, special adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and notably from 1997 to 2001, Chief Negotiator for the Caribbean on External Economic Relations. He continued to serve almost until the end of his life. At 92 and in the middle of the covid pandemic, he was the first lawyer to appear virtually before the International Court of Justice, representing Guyana in the border dispute with Venezuela.

Knighted in 1970, Sir Ramphal received numerous other prestigious honours, including the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC), the Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (GCMG), the Order of Excellence of Guyana (OE), the Order of Merit of Jamaica (OM), the Order of the Companions of Oliver Tambo from South Africa, Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), and an appointment to the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civil honour.

Readers can learn more about this Caribbean giant from other tributes by the Sir Shridath Ramphal Centre and The Telegraph, and this interview with the man himself.