Carl W. Wright (born 18 February 1950) is a Commonwealth civil servant, former director of the

Commonwealth Trade Union Group The Commonwealth Trade Union Group (abbreviated CTUG) is a London-based international alliance of trade union in the Commonwealth countries. It was previously known as the Commonwealth Trade Union Council (abbreviated CTUC). As of 2007, the combine ...

(1980–94) and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (1994–2016). Author 'Global Citizen: Grass Roots Activism and High Diplomacy' (Hansib Publication 2022)

Education

Wright spent his childhood in

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and studied European Politics at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, and Regional Economic and Urban Planning at the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Early career

In 1973, Wright joined the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

as adviser to Commissioner George Thomson, as one of the first Britons to work for the Commission and Secretary of the

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...

(1974–80).

Commonwealth career

From 1980 to 1988 he was the founding Director of the

(at that time called the Commonwealth Trade Union Council), which campaigned for human and labour rights, and Assistant Director at the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

(198894) where he dealt with Commonwealth programmes for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. In 1994 he became the founding director of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and its Secretary-General from 1995 to 2016. One key achievement during this time was the adoption of the Aberdeen Agenda: Commonwealth Principles on Good Practice for Local Democracy and Good Governance which guides the Commonwealth advocacy and engagement on local democracy and was incorporated into the Commonwealth Charter in 2013. Wright has been a member of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Government on Post-2015 and

Habitat III Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, took place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 – 20 October 2016. The UN Conferences on Housing (Habitat) are occurring in the bi-decennial cycle (1976, 1996 and 201 ...

representing global local government organisations at the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing for Development and COP21 Paris and chaired key UN consultations on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2013–16). In 2016 he joined the board of trustees of the UN Association UK, the Ramphal Institute and editorial board of '' The Round Table'' journal. For his work in "international co-operation" and other areas, Wright received an honorary doctorate in Administration from the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. ...

in 2013.

External links

Carl Wright - photo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Carl 1950 births Living people British civil servants–