The new Chair of the Association, Max Gaylard, was elected at the AGM in July. He was Director of the International Affairs Division at the Commonwealth Secretariat (later the Political Affairs Division) for almost eight years from 1988.

He sent a message to the Association’s members:

Dear Fellow Members,

I am writing this short note to you all as the incoming Chair of our Commonwealth Association, following the Annual General Meeting held on-line on 29 July 2024 and a subsequent meeting of our Executive Committee on 8 August 2024 at Marlborough House. The Minutes of these meetings are being prepared and will be forwarded by our dedicated ExCo Secretary David Blake.

For the year just gone, let me draw your attention to the out-going Chair’s Report from Stuart Mole which has also been distributed by David.  Stuart as you know has been a stalwart of the Association since its inception more than two decades ago, firstly as an advocate and enabler from within the ComSec, then for some time as Vice Chair and finally as successor to the late Patsy Robertson as Chair.    It is to the credit of both Patsy and Stuart along with other long-serving and committed members of the ExCo, that our Association has not only survived but has prospered since it was formed officially in 2001.  Fortunately Stuart has agreed to be coopted as an ExCo member, so we will all continue to benefit from his active involvement.

In my short time on the ExCo working with Vice Chair Bishakha Mukherjee and fellow committee members, I have been struck by the energy and dedication to making the Association work both as an important reservoir of shared knowledge and institutional memory, as well as a vehicle for remaining in touch with each other. We will continue to explore opportunities to organise interesting activities, including in partnership with other organisations and institutions. The Kew Gardens at Richmond and the Wallace Collection at Hartford House in London come easily to mind; there are many other possibilities, including eminent Commonwealth personalities as speakers.

As a committee we all agree on the fundamental need for continuing attention to the question of total membership, which has been as high as 120 in the past, but which in recent years has hovered around the century (100) mark with around 90% resident in the UK.  We want to build upon both resident and non-resident categories, and in doing so will reach out to Commonwealth bodies beyond the Secretariat and the Foundation. We shall keep you all informed, and in the meantime would encourage you as individual members to help “grow” our Association by reaching out to ex-colleagues who may not so far have joined.  ExCo member Lorna McLaren has been operating as a focal point on the matter of membership and is pleased to assist as necessary.

That is about all I wanted to share with you for the present, and I take the opportunity to remind that the next iteration of the Patsy Robertson Memorial Lecture will be with us shortly, with our Association partnering the Commonwealth Youth Programme of the Secretariat to invite iconic Olympic and Commonwealth athlete Tessa Sanderson for 14 October 2024 at Marlborough House. Tessa will speak on sport, development and the Commonwealth, and all full members of our Association will of course be invited. The lecture will be recorded for members unable to attend in person.  

Max Gaylard, 23 August 2024

A life-long career in international relations

Max Gaylard has had a life-long career in international relations, beginning in 1968 as a diplomatic cadet with the then Australian Department of External Relations, now known as DFAT. There followed two years with the Australian Army which included military service with a so-named Commonwealth Brigade in Malaysia, then civilian postings with Australian Embassies in Mexico and Burma, as Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore and finally High Commissioner in the Solomon Islands. From mid-1988, Max was seconded by the Australian Government to the Commonwealth Secretariat, as Director of the then International Affairs Division which several years later became the Political Affairs Division.

After almost eight years at the Secretariat under the visionary leadership of Sir Shridath (Sonny) Ramphal and Chief Emeka Anyaoku as successive Secretaries-General, Max chose not to return to the ranks of the Australian Government, and joined the burgeoning United Nations engagement with humanitarian crises around the globe. In a two-decades long association with the UN family, Max went first to Iraqi Kurdistan and the Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq, followed by Khartoum and the so-named Operation Lifeline Sudan, then Somalia as UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and Head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for Somalia.

After almost ten years in the field, Max was invited to UNHQ in New York to head up the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), which had been established earlier to begin to deal with the global problem of landmines and associated weaponry and ammunition. After two years in New York, he began a five-year assignment to Israel and Palestine to serve as UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator to Palestine, and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the Middle East Peace Process. Beyond retirement Max continued to work with and for the UN in an advisory and mentoring capacity, including in the Middle East.