3rd July 2023 Vienna
On 28 June, 71 countries agreed a joint call to action urging the removal of online Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM). We agreed that we need three things…
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23rd March 2022
Last week, I had the honour of attending the 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations, New York. CSW is the biggest annual forum for defending and promoting women and girls’ rights around the world. The UK was well represented at CSW, with a delegation of inspirational women including the […]
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23rd October 2020 London, UK
Pub quiz question: where was the first meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly held? Answer: London, in the Methodist Central Hall on 10 January 1946. London features heavily in early UN history. The Security Council met for the first time in Church House, Westminster, the following week. Church House was also the location for […]
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29th May 2019 Vienna, Austria
One of Vienna’s key international organisations is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the UNODC. But how exactly do countries work with UNODC to combat the illegal use of drugs? Every March, the UK and other countries send experts to the UNODC in Vienna for the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, known as the […]
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9th December 2018 Vienna, Austria
A corrupt politician in a country far away wears an expensive watch and owns a car costing many times his annual salary. Why should we care? Corruption matters because it undermines the rules-based international system; slows economic growth; and generates instability. All this harms countries, and peoples, around the world. Every year, corruption costs a […]
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29th November 2018
When the people of the British Virgin Islands went to sleep on 5 September 2017, they knew a very large storm was approaching. But nothing could have prepared them for the devastation they would experience when Hurricane Irma made landfall the next day. The once crystal clear, turquoise waters would churn with debris and across […]
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29th November 2018
I have spent 7 years working in the joint Home Office and Foreign Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU). As I walk into work, anticipating the type of calls I will handle today still brings a mixture of apprehension but also promise – knowing the unit, every day, has the potential to save lives. During my […]
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22nd November 2018 Abuja, Nigeria
When I tell people I live in Lagos, Nigeria, I often get quite a lot of quizzical looks… Why did you move there with your family? Is it safe? What about Boko Haram? Is corruption not endemic? As the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, I know that the challenges of corruption, insecurity and poverty […]
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22nd November 2018 New York, USA
The Syrian conflict has dragged on for seven long awful years. Over 400,000 people have been killed and half Syria’s population displaced. A terrible price has been paid by the Syrian people for the failure to make the Geneva Agreement of 2012 stick. This agreement identified steps for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a […]
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22nd November 2018 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Mongolia is everything you expect. Mongolia is also everything you don’t expect. At least that’s what I found as the UK’s Ambassador. The world’s least densely populated country, which was once one of the largest empires in world history, it is a land of immense beauty and rich history. Mongolia is also a vibrant 21st […]
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