“His advocacy was service beyond Guyana”

Former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Shridath Ramphal, has lauded President Bharrat Jagdeo’s tenureship, as he paid tribute to His Excellency, during the President’s Appreciation celebration day, on Friday September 16, at the National Stadium, Providence.

Sir Shridath joined many who took the opportunity to express appreciation and gratitude for President Jagdeo’s astute leadership over the past 12 years, noting the tremendous development the country has witnessed during this period.

The Guyana-born Sir Shridath especially paid tribute to the president’s respect for the constitutional norms in relinquishing office as the Constitution of the republic required.

“To respect the Constitution is of course the norm; to do so with dignity and without hesitancy is deserving of tribute, and I pay that tribute with great admiration,” he said.

He noted too that President Jagdeo has demonstrated both the understanding and the aptitude, at many levels, of global encounters, such as international summits and meetings of Commonwealth Heads of Government.

This ability, he noted, is important in these days of globalization, where national and international matters are closely intertwined and all aspects of the president’s international work have had national implications, with much of it being driven in pursuit of the interests of Guyana and its people.

According to Sir Shridath, President Jagdeo has shown those qualities too in more specialised forums, like meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (where he was once Chairman of the Board of Governors) and high level environmental, climate change and forestry bodies.

He said, “Not surprisingly, his attendance was marked out and specifically sought. A voice from the developing world, from a small country, an authentic voice speaking with intelligence of the issues and with passion on them. The international community acknowledged President Jagdeo’s special qualities, and singled out his contributions.”

Sir Shridath explained that the linkage between local and global policies has not been better exemplified than in President Jadgeo’s “enlightened” Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and the Guyana - Norway Partnership Agreement, which is recognized as the world’s second largest forest service climate.

“This agreement melds the vision and integrity of Guyana’s LCDS and Norway’s enlightened environmental policies,” he acknowledged.

As to the importance of the Head of State’s drive to promote the LCDS, Ramphal said, “Many years ago, I was a member of the International Commission on Environment and Development chaired by a former prime minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Bruntdland. The report we produced, ‘Our Common Future’, first developed the concept of sustainable development. Therefore, it is special to me that over two decades later, President Jagdeo should be so splendidly fulfilling for Guyana the promise of sustainable development – and with Norway’s help.”

In recent years President Jagdeo has spoken out internationally of the need for solutions to avert the worst extremes of climate change globally, and with special emphasis on its catastrophic consequences for developing countries.

In 2009, he did so with notable effect at the prestigious World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

“His advocacy was service beyond Guyana: it was service to a much wider world,” the former Commonwealth Secretary General explained.

And all that is besides his acknowledged regional leadership - leadership in CARICOM - nowhere better exemplified than in his opposition to the Economic partnership Agreement ( EPA ) with the European Union.

President Jagdeo was convinced that what was being concluded was bad for the region: a conviction in which he was to be proven right even before the ink of signature was dry. He gave leadership too in the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) of which he was an early chairman – constituting Guyana as a bridge between the Caribbean and South America, and thereby enhancing our country’s importance to both.

The president’s internationalism has earned more than acknowledgement of the contributions he can make at the global level; it has won him honour for his special capacities, competencies and achievements.

In 2008, both Time magazine and CNN named Bharrat Jagdeo as one of their ‘Heroes of the Environment’.

In 2010, at the level of the United Nations, he was named a Champion of the Earth, an award which, in the words of the United Nations Envivonment Programme, “recognises individuals who embody commitment and vision towards environmental leadership through their action and their influence”. This award spoke eloquently to the president’s internationalism, and brought glory to him and to all Guyana.

Within recent months he has been  invited to serve on the Board of the internationally respected Global Green Growth Institute.

In closing, Sir Ramphal stated, “As he leaves the presidency of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo can be proud that he has made a difference to the standing of developing countries in the global  community, and the quality of his advocacy has redounded to the credit of our country and our people. May he long continue to contribute to the welfare of his fellow citizens of the Earth,” Sir Shridat concluded.