Fiji mourns a trail-blazing diplomat today.
Ambassador Satya N Nandan died at his New York home on Tuesday.
Nandan chaired the drafting of the United Nations Convention of the Sea that gave Fiji and other islands of the Pacific oversight of their 200 mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). He was the first Secretary General of the International Seabed Authority, and was the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Special Representative of the Secretary General for the Law of the Sea, before that.
He also chaired the UN Conference on fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks that led to the formulation and adoption of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea.
“I was privileged to work with Satya between 1993-1995,” wrote Fiji senior lawyer Graham Everett Leung in a tribute on his Facebook page.
“He was one of the most distinguished and outstanding public servants of his generation and a great credit to Fiji, a country he held dear to his heart notwithstanding his rise to the highest levels of international diplomacy.
“Despite his eminence and stature, he was humble and unassuming.”
Former head of the Parties of the Nauru Agreement office and now Solomon Islands ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Dr Transform Aqorau said the islands of the Pacific are hugely indebted to the late Ambassador Nandan.
“He stands tall amongst the giants of the Pacific Islands as the one who perhaps more than anyone else gave us the rights and jurisdiction over the vast tuna resources that we now enjoy and perhaps take for granted,” Dr Aqorau told Suva-based writer Sadhana Sen.
“He was the chair of the drafting committee at the UN which helped shape the 200 mile exclusive economic zone regime but closer to home, he helped shape the Forum Leaders Declaration on the Law of the Sea that provided the impetus for the 200 miles fisheries zones we now have, and the Forum Fisheries Agency.”
On his Twitter feed, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama says: “Fiji has lost a titan of diplomacy with the passing of my friend Satya Nandan — Fiji’s first diplomat to the UN. Satya’s legacy is tied directly to Fiji’s independent history. He will be remembered as a true global citizen, a wise mentor, and a proud son of the Pacific “
Sen quotes family members in Sydney as saying that funeral arrangements will be announced later.
