Michael Manley was one of the most outstanding political figures in the post-colonial history of the Caribbean. As a politician, labour  leader, author and intellectual, Mr Manley made a seminal contribution to Jamaican, Caribbean and international politics.

His pioneering programme of legislative social reforms in the 1970s and his role in the formation of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and later the Association of  Caribbean States (ACS) guarantee him a prominent place in modern Caribbean history.

His advocacy of a New International Economic Order (NIEO) and his defence of sovereignty for ex-colonial countries make him an international figure of enormous consequence for world politics during the decade of the 1970s. In all of this, Michael Manley  was driven by a passionate concern for human equality.