16th October 2014 Pretoria, South Africa
Today has been labelled ‘Blog Action Day: Let’s Talk About Inequality.’ To mark this occasion I wanted to share some thoughts on what the UK is doing to promote women’s rights and to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. The promotion and protection of women’s rights is more than a moral obligation. It […]
16th October 2014 London, UK
I drove to Cheltenham on Saturday – a four hour round trip worth every mile – to hear a former Archbishop of Canterbury deliver a lecture at the Literature Festival. I was there to support a friend, whose organisation – COEXIST – was staging the event. But in the big tent I was as spellbound […]
15th October 2014
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the world’s most prestigious awards. This year it was won by a Pakistani schoolgirl who fought for the right to learn. At 17 Malala Yousafzai was the youngest person ever to win the prize. She was told about it during a chemistry class at Edgbaston High School in […]
1st October 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
I don’t get much time to read any books of my own these days. With two young children, most of the literature that comes my way tends either to have sparkly shapes, no more than about 10 words a page or contain clearly accessible lessons in morality. Which makes them the exact opposite of Human […]
1st October 2014 Paris, France
The British actress Emma Watson is a UN Ambassador for women’s issues and she made her first speech at the UN a few days ago, launching a campaign on gender equality. I think she put her finger on a very important point, which is that gender equality is not a woman’s issue, it’s a man’s […]
30th September 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
A couple of weeks ago, I went on an official trip to the East. Starting in Arugam Bay, we drove North all the way to Trincomalee, through Pottuvil, Oluvil, Kalmunai and Batticaloa. I met with government and political interlocutors, humanitarian workers and civil society organisations, and visited temples, beaches and hospitals. There was nothing controversial […]
23rd September 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
It’s been an interesting week to be a Brit at the UN. No matter what else has been going on in the rest of the world, all anyone wanted to talk to me about was Scotland. Mostly people just wanted to hear my prediction of what the result was going to be, as though I have […]
15th September 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
For those of you who may have noticed me looking a little down in the mouth last week, this had little to do with work and almost everything to do with the temporary disappearance of our pet cat. She was obviously not getting enough attention having to compete in our household with two small children […]
8th September 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
This year has been the summer that never was. Usually by the time the September Council session comes around, colleagues look relaxed, healthy even, after enjoying the Geneva sunshine and seem genuinely happy to see each other after a decent break. But a combination of bad weather and incessant work has left many of us […]
18th August 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
Since the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in 2003, August 19 has been honoured as a day to remember those who face danger to help others. In 2014, more people than ever are in need of humanitarian assistance. With ongoing conflict in thirty three countries and an increasing number of natural disasters affecting […]