UN names Girvan as Good Officer in Guyana/Venezuela border issue

Professor Norman Girvan, who is widely respected in international affairs, has been appointed by the United Nations (UN) as the Special Representative in the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy.

Norman Girvan

The Office of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Monday informed Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of the appointment. Professor Girvan assumes the role of Good Officer almost two years after the post was left vacant due to the passing of Oliver Jackman in 2007. Jackman had served as the Personal Representative from October 1999 to January 2007. “The Government of Guyana welcomes the appointment of Professor Girvan which would now enable Guyana and Venezuela to resuscitate discussions under the Good Offices process of the United Nations Secretary General on a means of settlement of the controversy,” a statement from the Foreign Affairs ministry said yesterday.

Professor Girvan will assist Guyana and Venezuela in the search for a practical settlement of the controversy that emerged from the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 is null and void, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. That Award definitively established the territorial boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

It was last year that Guyana and Venezuela sought the resuscitation of the Good Offices Process through the appointment of a Personal Representative when the foreign ministers of both countries met with the UN Secretary General at his office in New York in October 2009. According to the Foreign Ministry here, the New York meeting was agreed on in July 2009 when Minister Rodrigues was on an official visit to Caracas. “The announcement of the appointment of Professor Girvan is an outcome of that meeting,” the ministry said.

The ministry’s statement also referred to Professor Girvan’s background, saying he is an internationally renowned Caribbean economist, academic and international civil servant, who brings valuable experience to the post. Professor Girvan had previously served as a former Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States.