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PM Regrets Passing of Angela King

February 6, 2007

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Prime Minister, The Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller today issued the following statement on the passing of Ms. Angela King.
“I am saddened to learn of the death of Ms. Angela King, former United Nations (U.N.) Assistant Secretary General and Special Adviser on Gender issues.
Jamaica and the international community have lost a pioneering champion in the achievement of women within the United Nations. She was an outstanding Jamaican whose service to the international community touched and improved the lives of many people across the world.
A member of the first team of Foreign Service Officers posted after Jamaica joined the United Nations, Ms. King served in Jamaica’s Permanent Mission to the UN before moving to the UN Headquarters in 1966, where she gave decades of distinguished service up to the time of her retirement in 2004.
A tireless international gender equality expert, Ms. King brought her considerable experience, outstanding advocacy skills and analytical mind to focus attention within the UN system and globally on issues of human rights, gender and improvement in the status of women.
Among her many pioneering roles at the UN, Ms. King was one of only four women to have headed a United Nations Mission on preventive diplomacy and peace building, serving as Chief of Mission of the South Africa Observer Mission, 1992-94. That Mission was instrumental in the resumption of constitutional negotiations leading to the holding of peaceful and democratic elections in that country in 1994. She also served as Director of the Office of Resources Management and Special Adviser on Gender and the Advancement of Women and was the first Chief of the UN Central Evaluation Unit.
She had a passion for issues relating to women and gender equality and was at the forefront of efforts to promote the inclusion of gender perspective in the decision making process of the UN. It was against this background that she successfully advocated for the adoption of UN Resolution 1325 (Women Peace and Security) in 2000 which focused on the role of women on issues relating to global peace and security.
Ms. King has made Jamaica truly proud through her humble yet noble efforts and her outstanding work at the UN for human rights, social and economic development and equality for the disadvantaged.
She has left a legacy that we should use in furthering the cause for a better quality of life for all mankind and will be mourned with profound affection.
I extend condolence to her son, relatives and colleagues at this time of bereavement.”

Last Updated: February 6, 2007

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