ACCORD Trustee, H.E. Ambassador Billy Modise, has been awarded the Great Cross of the Order of Bernadro O’Higgins by the Government of Republic of Chile. The presentation will be made by the Ambassador of the Republic of Chile, H.E. Ambassador Franciso Marambio, at a reception to be hosted in Pretoria, South Africa, this evening. The Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, will be attending the ceremony.
Chile’s highest award for a foreign citizen is named in honour of Bernardo O’Higgins, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Chile and who was the second Supreme Director of Chile (1817 – 1823), the first to hold this title as the head of a fully independent Chilean State. Previous recipients of the award have been the actor Christopher Reeve in 2004 and the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs Rafael Bielsa in 2005.
H.E. Ambassador Modise is the former South African Ambassador to Canada and the former Chief of State Protocol in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).
