Guest blog by Levente Nyitrai, Policy Officer, British Embassy Budapest
Today marks an important occasion in the United Kingdom and the field of human rights worldwide. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, is launching the Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report for 2011 in London. He is laying the report in Parliament after which he is hosting an official launch event. You can actually follow it all at the @FCOHumanRights twitter channel. The report covers thematic issues, highlights the UK’s global and human rights priorities as well as the so-called “countries of concern”. This year there are new chapters dealing with the events of the Arab Spring. Check it out!
Just like other British Embassies worldwide, the British Embassy of Budapest is a dedicated and active supporter of human rights. In the past years we’ve supported dozens of projects with the aim to help social inclusion and highlight the importance of mutual acceptance and tolerance. Perhaps you’ve come across some of them such as the ZARE (Music Against Racism) programme series, which we launched at the world famous Sziget Festival, and which has been active ever since, or the Campaign for Roma Law Enforcement that provides after school training programme to disadvantaged Roma youth and encourages them to join the police force. And don’t be surprised if in the upcoming months you see British Embassy logos on promotion materials for or hear a member of the Embassy speak at minority and inclusion related conferences, trainings or even in summer camps.
Although he only arrived to Hungary two months ago, Her Majesty’s Ambassador, Jonathan Knott (my boss) has already taken part in a number of human rights related events. In March, for example, he opened, in Hungarian, the British Embassy’s Second Human Rights Movie Day and in April, in a rather moving event, he spoke at the Hungarian book launch of the “I Lived on this Earth… Hungarian Poems on the Holocaust” hosted by us in the Embassy building. You will probably see him even more at similar events in the near future. And if you see a busybody in glasses around him, holding plenty of papers and talking a lot, you can be sure you’ve come across me as well.