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Dr. John W. Ashe Obituary

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Dr. John W. Ashe

Dobbs Ferry, NY

August 20, 1954 - June 22, 2016

Dr. John W. Ashe Obituary

John W. Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda was elected President of the General Assembly's sixty-eighth session on 14 June 2013 while serving in the dual capacity as his country's Permanent Representative to both the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, positions he held since 2004. Guided by a passion for sustainable development, Mr. Ashe has been in the forefront of international efforts to address the adverse effects of climate change and the fight to eradicate poverty. He has served in a leadership capacity on many of the governing bodies of the major UN environmental agreements, including as the first Chairman of the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC. He also chaired the same Convention's Subsidiary Body on Implementation SBI, and, most recently, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol AWG-KP. "We only have the planet we live on, and if we are to leave it in a reasonable state for the next generation, the quest for a safer, cleaner, and more equitable world is one that should consume us all," he says, summing up his philosophy. Mr. Ashe is also known for his abilities as a mediator. He successfully led negotiations that resulted in Chapter X of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development Rio 10; and co-chaired the UN Conference on Sustainable Development Rio 20 in 2012. In 2004 he presided over the thirteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, the body responsible for reviewing programmes on the implementation of Agenda 21-a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection. A veteran of the multilateral process, in 2008 Mr. Ashe was elected to serve as Chairman of the New York chapter of the Group of 77 and China, the largest coalition of developing nations in the UN system. He also chaired the General Assembly's High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, the UN's main policymaking body dedicated to furthering cooperation for development among the countries comprising the global South. Well versed in the UN's administrative and budgetary processes, Mr. Ashe was Chairman of the UN General Assembly's Fifth Committee in 2004, successfully guiding negotiations for the world body's 2006-2007 biennial budget. In addition, he has served on the governing boards of major UN funds and programmes, including as President of the UN Development Programme UNDP - UN Population Fund UNFPA - UN Office for Project Services UNOPS Executive Board in 2010, and as President of the UN Children's Fund UNICEF Executive Board in 2012. Having joined his country's Foreign Service in 1989, Mr. Ashe was awarded the Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George CMG by Queen Elizabeth II United Kingdom in 2007, in recognition of his global diplomatic service. Mr. Ashe was born on 20 August 1954 in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, and holds a Doctorate in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania United States. He is married and has two children. Funeral Service will be held on Friday, July 8, 2016 at 2:00pm at the South Presbyterian Church, 343 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. Visiting will be held on Thursday, July 7, 2016 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm and 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Edwards-Dowdle Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry at South Presbyterian Church.

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