Professor Rex Nettleford, Vice Chancellor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies has been named a member of a high level Commonwealth group comprising ten members to be known as the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding. In this regard Professor Nettleford will be representing Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.
In making the announcement, the Commonwealth Secretary General His Excellency Rt. Honourable Donald McKennon stated that in paragraph 26 of the Malta Communique, Heads of Government “affirmed the importance of promoting tolerance, respect, enlightened moderation and friendship among people of different races, faiths and cultures.” He said that it was in this context they had requested him “to explore initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect among all faiths and communities in the Commonwealth.” Inherent in the thinking of the Heads of Government was the perception that the Commonwealth with its great diversity and successful harnessing of it as well as being an organization which spans the globe had much to offer the larger international community.
The Commission will be chaired by the Indian Nobel Laureate, Professor Amartya Sen. The other nine members are from the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Bangladesh, Toga, Kenya, South Africa and Australia.
The UWI is a member of the Commonwealth Association of Universities and as Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies Professor Nettleford served on the Executive Council and presented papers at the University of London and Oxford, emphasizing the importance of countries of the Commonwealth one to another and the urgent need for “reconnection” between commonwealth member-states.
The Commission which brings together a group of distinguished and highly experienced personalities from a variety of disciplines and representing a cross-section of the Commonwealth will hold its first meeting in London on December 1 2006. It will hold at least one other meeting in 2007 before finalizing its report which will be transmitted to Heads of Government for their consideration at the Kampala Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2007.

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June V. Degia (Mrs.)
Acting Public Relations Officer
UWI, Mona Campus
Phone: 977-5941/935-8348

November 28, 2006