Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General
{{EngvarB|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
The Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth assists the Secretary-General in managing the operations of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is the central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. The current Deputy Secretary-General is Dr Arjoon Suddhoo of Mauritius. Dr Suddhoo's appointment was announced in February 2019 after an open and competitive process, and he took up the post in April 2019.{{Cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/new-deputy-secretary-general-appointed|title=New Deputy Secretary-General appointed {{!}} The Commonwealth|website=thecommonwealth.org|date=28 February 2019|access-date=2019-05-24}}
History
Until 2016, three Commonwealth Deputy Secretaries-General assisted the Secretary-General in running the Commonwealth Secretariat, each assigned an aspect of the Commonwealth's function to address particularly: one to economic affairs, one to political affairs and the other to corporate affairs.
They were elected by the Commonwealth Heads of Government, like the Secretary-General. However, as their terms overlap with those of the Secretary-General, and don't coincide with Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGMs), the Heads of Government are represented through their respective High Commissioners in London.{{cite journal |last=Doxey |first=Margaret |date=January 1979 |title=The Commonwealth Secretary-General: Limits of Leadership |journal=International Affairs |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=67–83 |doi=10.2307/2617133|jstor=2617133 }} Originally, the Secretariat only engaged two Deputy Secretaries-General, whilst the Corporate Affairs portfolio was overseen by an Assistant Secretary-General. This changed in 2014 with the appointment of Gary Dunn from Australia to the post. However, by the end of March 2017, references to the role and Dunn had been removed from the Secretariat's website, indicating that the role may have been abolished though no announcement had been made to that effect.
Under Baroness Scotland's tenure as Secretary-General, the vacancies left by the departures of Dunn, Deodat Maharaj, and Josephine Ojiambo were not filled and the three roles merged into a single post.
Lists of Deputy Secretaries-General
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Name !Country !Start !End |
| Arjoon Suddhoo
|2019 |Incumbent |
=Economic Affairs and Development=
{{Infobox political post
|post = Deputy Secretary-General for Economic Affairs and Development
|body = the Commonwealth of Nations
|nativename =
|flag =
|flagsize = 175px
|flagborder =
|flagcaption = Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations
|insignia =
|insigniasize =
|insigniacaption =
|department =
|image =
|imagesize =
|alt =
|incumbent = Vacant
|incumbentsince = 2017
|style = His Excellency
|residence =
|nominator =
|nominatorpost =
|appointer = Commonwealth Heads of Government
|appointerpost =
|termlength = 3 years, renewable once
|inaugural = Tilak E. Gooneratne
|formation = 1965
|last = Deodat Maharaj
|abolished = Possibly June 2017
|succession =
|deputy =
|salary =
|website = [http://www.thecommonwealth.org/ www.thecommonwealth.org]
}}
| class="wikitable"
! width=15%| Name ! width=10%| Country ! width=12%| Start ! width=12%| End |
| Tilak E. Gooneratne
| {{flag|Sri Lanka}} | 1965 | 1970 |
| Geoffrey Wilson
| {{flag|United Kingdom}} | 1971 | 1971 |
| Hunter Wade
| {{flag|New Zealand}} | 1972 |
| colspan=4 align=center|Incomplete |
| C. John Small
|{{flag|Canada}} | 1979 | 1983 |
| Peter Marshall
| rowspan="4"|{{flag|United Kingdom}} | 1983 | 1988 |
| Peter Unwin
| 1989 | 1993 |
| Humphrey Maud
| 1993 | 1999 |
| Veronica Sutherland
| 1999 | 2001 |
| Winston Cox
| {{flag|Barbados}} | 2001 | 2006 |
| Ransford Smith
| {{flag|Jamaica}} | 2006 | 2013 |
| Deodat Maharaj
| {{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}} | 2014 | 2017 |
{{Incomplete list|date=February 2011}}
=Political Affairs=
{{Infobox political post
|post = Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs
|body = the Commonwealth of Nations
|nativename =
|flag =
|flagsize = 175px
|flagborder =
|flagcaption = Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations
|insignia =
|insigniasize =
|insigniacaption =
|department =
|image =
|imagesize =
|alt =
|incumbent = Vacant (Appointments Suspended)
|incumbentsince = 2018
|style = His/Her Excellency
|residence =
|nominator =
|nominatorpost =
|appointer = Commonwealth Heads of Government
|appointerpost =
|termlength = 3 years, renewable once
|inaugural = A.L. Adu
|formation = 1966
|last =
|abolished =
|succession =
|deputy =
|salary =
|website = [http://www.thecommonwealth.org/ www.thecommonwealth.org]
}}
| class="wikitable"
! width=15%| Name ! width=10%| Country ! width=12%| Start ! width=12%| End |
| A. L. Adu
| {{flag|Ghana}} | 1966 | 1970 |
| M. A. Husain
| {{flag|India}} | 1970 | 1977 |
| Emeka Anyaoku
| {{flag|Nigeria}} | 1977 | 19901 |
| Anthony Siaguru
| {{flag|Papua New Guinea}} | 1990 | 1995 |
| Krishnan Srinivasan
| {{flag|India}} | 1995 | 2002 |
| Florence Mugasha
| {{flag|Uganda}} | 2002 | 2008 |
| Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba
| {{flag|Botswana}} | 2008 | 2014 |
| Josephine Ojiambo
| {{flag|Kenya}} | 2015 | 2018 |
1 Initially served from 1977 to 1983, leaving his??{{who|date=September 2019}} post for a few months to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria. He was re-instated later that year.
=Corporate Affairs=
{{Infobox political post
|post = Deputy Secretary-General for Corporate Affairs
|body = the Commonwealth of Nations
|nativename =
|flag =
|flagsize = 175px
|flagborder =
|flagcaption = Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations
|insignia =
|insigniasize =
|insigniacaption =
|department =
|image =
|imagesize =
|alt =
|incumbent = Vacant
|incumbentsince = 2016
|style = His Excellency
|residence =
|nominator =
|nominatorpost =
|appointer = Commonwealth Heads of Government
|appointerpost =
|termlength = 3 years, renewable once
|inaugural = Gary Dunn
|formation = 2014 – previously titled 'Assistant Secretary-General'
|last =
|abolished = Unclear – possibly 2017
|succession =
|deputy =
|salary =
|website = [http://www.thecommonwealth.org/ www.thecommonwealth.org]
}}
| class="wikitable"
! width=15%| Name ! width=10%| Country ! width=12%| Start ! width=12%| End |
| Gary Dunn
| {{flag|Australia}} | 2014 |
Footnotes
{{reflist}}
{{Commonwealth of Nations topics}}
Category:Institutions of the Commonwealth of Nations
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