Mr. Roderick Rainford, a national of Jamaica, was Secretary-General from 1983 to1992. He served as Deputy Secretary-General to Secretary-General Dr. Kurleigh King prior to acceding to the position of Secretary-General. A firm believer in teamwork and collective leadership, he therefore assumed the position with what he described as a “good sense from the inside, of the problems and challenges facing the movement at the time”.
Mr. Roderick Rainford, is pictured second from left in deep discussion with delegates at a meeting
One of a cadre of integrationists molded at the University of the West Indies and a self-described Federationist, Mr. Rainford holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the UWI. In 1963, he went to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a B.A.in Jurisprudence in 1965, and a Diploma in Economic Development in 1966. He was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in 1971 and in that year, gained his Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto.
Secretary-General Rainford assumed office at a time of challenges, one of the more prominent among them being the Grenada crisis with the assassination of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and the overthrow of his government. Within a month of assuming office, Secretary-General Rainford had to convene one of the most acrimonious Special Meetings of the Conference.
His tenure gave practical action and direction to major integration developments. For example, after Heads of Government adopted the Nassau Understanding on Structural Adjustment and Closer Integration for Accelerated Development in the Caribbean Community in 1984, Mr. Rainford and his team began a period of measured and careful rebuilding which culminated in the Grand Anse Declaration of 1989.
Among the developments under his tenure were substantial progress in the removal of barriers to the free movement of goods; advancement of the construction of the Common External Tariff; the rudiments of the Regional Stock Exchange and the cross-border listing and trading of shares in the Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchanges, were in place; the negotiation of the framework for the Caribbean Investment Fund; reactivation and revival of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA); and the creation of or consolidation of institutions for common regional action such as the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) now the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
During his tenure, the Region introduced a new focus on the environment. In 1989, CARICOM Ministers of Environment issued a major Declaration – the Accord of Port-of-Spain which formed the basis for the Community’s strong and effective participation as a group in the June 1992 United Nations Conference on Environmental and Development.
Mr. Rainford has received several honours including the Cacique Crown of Honour from Guyana in 1989 and the Order of Jamaica in 1992. In 2008, the UWI conferred on him an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
