John William Ashe

John William Ashe
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 17 September 2013 – 16 September 2014
Preceded by	Vuk Jeremić
Succeeded by	Sam Kutesa
Personal details
Born	20 August 1954 (St.John's, Antigua)
Nationality	Antiguan
Residence	New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania (PhD) Saint Mary's University Technical University of Nova Scotia

John William Ashe (born 20 August 1954) was the President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session, which ran September 2013 to September 2014.^[1] He was also the ambassador to the United Nations for Antigua and Barbuda. His position was last confirmed on 3 May 2004. He is also his country’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has ministerial responsibility for WTO and sustainable development matters.

Early life and education

Ashe was born in St. John's, Antigua. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Canada, and the Technical University of Nova Scotia at Halifax. He holds a Ph.D in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

^{[2] [3]} His parents did not complete high school. His paternal grandfather was illiterate and his mother, in turn, was a descendant of slave plantation owners in Barbados. Consequently, Ashe was the first in his family to attend university.^[4]

Career

Antiguan representative at the U.N.

From 1989 to 1995, he worked for his country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations as Scientific Attaché, Counsellor and Minister Counsellor. Between 1995 and 2004, he was Antigua and Barbuda's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He served as Chairman of the thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which met at United Nations Headquarters on 11–22 April 2005. He also led negotiations on budgetary and administrative matters within the conventions on biological diversity and desertification, the Basel Convention, and the Montreal Protocol, and served on the Executive Boards of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

In April 2009, he was elected chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP), and was responsible for overseeing negotiations leading up to and including the final phase at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.^[5]

UN General Assembly President

Towards the end of 2011, Ashe was the consensus candidate of all 33 GRULAC members states to be the president of the 68th session of the UNGA,^[6][7] thus not necessitating an election, unlike the previous year.

Bribery accusation

On 6 October 2015, Ashe was arrested and charged,^[8] along with five others, in a criminal complaint by federal prosecutors in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, reflecting an expansion of a probe into the dealings of Macau real estate developer Ng Lap Seng. The complaint accuses Ashe of using "his official position to obtain for Ng potentially lucrative investments in Antigua" as part of an alleged broader scheme to funnel more than $1 million in bribes from Chinese sources to facilitate business dealings, particularly in real estate.^[9]

References

1. "General Assembly opens its 68th session with long-term development a prime goal". United Nations News Centre (17 September). 2013. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
2. UNIS (2005). "Press Releases: Biographical Note, John William Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda Fifth Committee Chairman [self-created biography in a UNIS press release on committee appointment]". United Nations Information Service (Vienna, 14 September). Retrieved 2015-10-06.
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20091027062735/http://www.un.org:80/esa/dsd/csd/csd_csd13_bureau.shtml. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved December 21, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. http://gadebate.un.org/68/president-unga-opening Archived September 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20110531152434/http://www.ab.gov.ag/gov_v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110:antigua-and-barbudas-ambassador-dr-john-ashe-releases-two-key-negotiating-texts-ahead-of-key-climate-change-talks&catid=34:news&Itemid=59. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. http://www.mni-alive.com/empowerment/180-blog/1702-antiguan-dr-john-ashe-appointed-president-of-68-un-general-assembly-session-v15-1702.html[]
7. "Antiguan endorsed as president of 2013 UN General Assembly". Caribbean360. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
8. Former UN General Assembly President and Five Others Charged in $1.3 Million Bribery Scheme — FBI
9. Santora, Marc; Weiseroct, Benjamin (6 October 2015). "Top United Nations Official Is Accused in Bribery Scheme". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-06.