Rafiq Khan

Mr. Khan joined the media in his homeland of Guyana when he was just a teenager, and rose through the ranks to become Program Director of the pre-independence Radio Demerara. He continued to demonstrate his talent on air and in leadership to eventually become General Manager of the successor station, the Guyana Broadcasting Company in 1970.

Mr. Khan was present at the birth of the CBU in the same year and was an active proponent of its core mandate of regional integration through communication. His passion for the entire Caribbean was also evident in his technical support for the Rediffusion Group of Companies throughout the 1970s.

Mr. Khan then went on to expand the scope of his support to broadcasting and the entire region when he was appointed UNESCO’s first ever Communication Advisor for the Caribbean, a position he held for thirteen (13) years. This position enabled him to provide technical assistance and advice to the CBU as a whole, and more specifically to individual member systems of the organisation, principally in the area of training.

His service to media and the region also included academia, as a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, where he co-authored research papers on media and communication in the Caribbean. Even after retirement Mr. Khan continued to share the wealth of his experience and expertise as an international media consultant.

Mr. Khan was inducted into the CBU Caribbean Media Hall Of Fame in 1996.

In December of 2014, the former announcer, media manager and development practitioner died in Jamaica, after a short illness.