The Caribbean region is mourning the death of one of its most highly respected international public servants, Mr Miles Stoby, who retired from the United Nations Secretariat after decades of service, most of it in the area of economic and social development.
Mr Stoby served, in 1992, as Secretary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, known as the Rio Summit, and later as Coordinator of preparations for the Millennium Summit and Assembly, the largest gathering of Heads of State that has ever taken place internationally.
At this juncture in the international debate on Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability, it is perhaps fitting that we remember the groundbreaking role of that First SIDS Conference, and the skill with which Miles Stoby steered the process to a successful conclusion.
Following his retirement, Miles Stoby was again of direct service to the Caribbean region when he held the position of Ambassador and Permanent Observer of CARICOM to the United Nations in New York during the period August 2005 to May 2006.
Miles Stoby was married to Lyutha Al-Mughairy, also herself a former staff member of the UN Secretariat and later the Ambassador of Oman to the United Nations in New York and more recently to The Federal Republic of Germany.
