Remembrance Service Held in New York for Angela King

The late Jamaican, Angela King, who served in the United Nations (UN), has been remembered as a very modest person, endowed with remarkable personal strengths and courage, despite her strong advocacy for gender equity.
At a remembrance service in her honour, held at the St. Bartholomew’s Church, 50th Street/Park Avenue, Manhattan on March 5, husband, Wilton H. James said that Mrs. King was someone who was very serious about her work at the UN.
“She was concerned more about measurable success than perceptions. She saw gender equivalence as the underlying feature of a new social contract. She did not believe that women should be uplifted at the expense of men, but that both should be uplifted equally,” he said.
He said that during her nearly four decades of work at the United Nations, she became less concerned about professional titles and more about the lack of lasting peace in the world and the scale and waste of resources at the expense of human development.
Son, Richard remembered her as a devoted mother, who was admirable in her commitment to promoting equality around the world.
“My greatest understanding of the breadth of her work occurred when I visited her in South Africa for the holidays in 1994 and got to see her work in action. I soon saw that her hard work and long hours were to benefit the United Nations of the world and it did. It was an awesome experience to be there at the end of apartheid and it left a life-long impression on me,” he said.
Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, Jamaica’s Permanent Representative to the UN said that while we are saddened by her passing, we also feel a tremendous sense of pride at her accomplishments and in particular, for the outstanding contribution she made to the international community.
“Angela was without doubt, a great role model for women. It is particularly noteworthy to recall that it was during her time at the Permanent Mission, where she was responsible for social, humanitarian and human rights issues, that at Jamaica’s initiative, the United Nations declared 1968 as the International Year for Human Rights,” he said.
In recognition of her sterling contribution towards the promotion of women’s rights, she was appointed by former Secretary General, Kofi Annan in 1997, as his special advisor on gender issues and the advancement of women.
In 2001, Angela King was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Government of Jamaica in recognition of her service to the international community. Mrs. King died on February 5, after a short illness at the age of 69 years.
The service was attended by members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps and the Jamaican community in New York City.