Martin Khor | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Khor in 2013 | |
| Member of the UN Secretary General | |
| In office 1997 – April 1, 2020 | |
| Succeeded by | pending |
| Executive Director of South Centre (organization) | |
| In office March 1, 2009 – July 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Yash Tandon |
| Succeeded by | Carlos María Correa |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Martin Khor Kok Peng[1] November 9, 1951 Penang,Malaysia |
| Died | April 1, 2020(2020-04-01) (aged 68) Penang,Malaysia |
| Cause of death | Complications ofcancer |
| Resting place | Mount Erskine |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Cambridge University Universiti Sains of Malaysia |
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Martin Khor Kok Peng (November 9, 1951 – 1 April 2020)[2][1][3] was the executive director of theSouth Centre, an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries based inGeneva, from 1 March 2009 to 2018. He replacedDr. Yash Tandon who was the executive director of the South Centre from 2005 to 2009. Khor was also a journalist, economist and the former Director of theThird World Network, which is based inPenang,Malaysia.
Khor was born inPenang,Malaysia. He was active in thecivil society movement and attended the 1999 and 2000World Economic Forum (WEF) inDavos, theWorld Social Forum (WSF 2002, 2003) and theEuropean social forum (2004).[4]
He was also, from 1997, a member of theUN Secretary-General's Task Force on Environment and Human Settlements, and a member of theMinistry of International Trade and Industry's National Committee on Multilateral Trade Issues in Malaysia.[5] He was a Vice-Chair of the Working Group of Experts on theRight to Development under the UNCommission on Human Rights.[6]
He also participated in theHelsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy.[7]
Khor sat on the board of directors of theInternational Forum on Globalization.[8]
Khor was also a long-standing columnist forThe Star newspaper from 1978 to 2019.[9][1]
He was trained as an economist at theUniversity of Cambridge andUniversiti Sains of Malaysia.[10][11]
In 2015, Khor was diagnosed with cancer and returned to his hometown, Penang, to fight it. He succumbed to it on the 1st of April 2020. His wake was held at theMount Erskine funeral parlour and his funeral was held the next day at the same location under Covid restrictions. He was survived by a wife and a daughter, Dr Rebecca Khor.Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan paid tribute to him.[1][2][10][12]
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