Dame Meg Taylor DBE is a Papua New Guinea lawyer and diplomat; she studied at University of Papua New Guinea. She received her Bachelor of Law degree from Melbourne University, Australia, and her Masters of Law degree from Harvard University, USA. She practised law in Papua New Guinea and was also admitted to ACT bar Australia. She served as a member of the Law Reform Commission.
Her working life began in 1974 as Private Secretary to the first Chief Minister and later Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Michael Somare.
From 1989-94, she was Ambassador of Papua New Guinea to the United States, Mexico and Canada. Upon returning home she served on Boards of Private Sector companies and civil society organizations.
Between 1999 and 2014, she was Vice President, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group.
In 2002, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
From 2014 – 2021 she was Secretary General to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. She is the first woman to hold the post.
In 2016 Dame Meg was appointed to the High-level steering committee on Every Women Every Child by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
This page has been updated in October 2024.