GUYANA (1999)

Ambassador Samuel R. Insanally, Chairman of the Group of 77 for 1999, is the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Guyana to the United Nations since 1987.

Born on January 23, 1936 in Georgetown, Guyana, Ambassador Insanally was educated at Queen’s College, Guyana. He also attended the University College of the West Indies - London University, the University of Paris, France, and the University of Brussels, Belgium. From 1966 to 1969, he served as Counsellor at the Guyana Embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1970, he was appointed Charge d’Affaires in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1972, he was transferred to the Permanent Mission of Guyana to the United Nations where, as Deputy Permanent Representative. On completion of that assignment, he returned as Ambassador to Venezuela from 1972 to 1978 with concurrent accreditation to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. His next posting was as Permanent Representative to the European Economic Community in Brussels where he also served as Ambassador to Belgium and on a non-resident basis to Austria, Norway and Sweden. Ambassador Insanally subsequently returned to Guyana as Head of the Political Division covering the Western Hemisphere. At the same time he served as roving High Commissioner to several Caribbean countries and as Ambassador to Colombia. During this period, he was also a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of International Relations, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

Since 1987, he was appointed as Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In this capacity, he has led his country’s delegation to the General Assembly on several occasions. He was also Vice-President of the United Nations Council for Namibia and in that capacity he was involved in the process which led to that nation’s independence. He was elected Vice President/Rapporteur for the Special Session of the General Assembly on International Economic Cooperation held in April 1990. In 1993, he was elected President of the forty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, and during that period served as Chairman of the Working Group on the Reform of the Security Council. He also presided over the World hearings on Development held at UN Headquarters. In 1994, he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Guyana., a position which he still holds.

During his extensive diplomatic career, he has attended high-level meetings of many other international and regional organizations such as the Non Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and the Commonwealth. He also participated in the North/South Summit held in Cancun, Mexico in 1981. Ambassador Insanally, who has written and lectured widely on the subject of diplomacy and international relations, was awarded the Golden Arrow of Achievement (A.A), the Cacique Crown of Honour (C.C.H) and in 1995 the Order of Roraima (O.R). He also holds the Order of the Liberator (Gran Cordon) conferred on him by the Government of Venezuela in 1978. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the International Association of Permanent Representatives and on the Council of Presidents of the General Assembly of the United Nations. He is also his country's non-resident Envoy to Japan and the Republic of Korea.