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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of FCDO Human Rights UK in Holy See

13th September 2012

Education for Democracy

A young girl making the 1GOAL sign in South Africa. Image: UK’s Department for International Development, 1GOAL Education for All Campaign 2010.

The UN International Day of Democracy falls on 15 September, a day on which Governments are encouraged to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy. The theme this year is Democracy Education. As the relevant UN web-page notes: “It is only with educated citizens that a sustainable culture of democracy can emerge.”

If we accept Churchill’s 1947 dictum – “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time” – then we also accept that democracy is worth an effort. It’s not easy. Personal responsibility, a strong sense of justice, and peaceful dialogue even when you disagree, are all inherent to democracy. And it needs learning.

In his 2012 message for World Day of Peace, “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace”, Pope Benedict flagged up the hard work required: a process “fostered by the encounter of two freedoms, that of adults and that of the young. It calls for responsibility on the part of the learners, who must be open to being led to the knowledge of reality, and on the part of educators, who must be ready to give of themselves”.

At a recent interfaith conference in Istanbul, one of the Holy See’s inter faith experts, Father Miguel Ayuso, argued that the political successes of Islamist parties in the Arab Spring needed to be followed by the nurturing of a “culture of democracy”. Without it, he said, there remained a risk of extremism becoming embedded in the new political arrangements in some states.

He argued that education would be crucial to avoiding this, and praised Al-Azhar university’s positive contribution through publications which affirmed the principles of dialogue, tolerance and respect, as well as the need to preserve basic freedoms as foundations for democratic and constitutional systems of government.

As we begin a new school and university year, it is worth remembering this civic role of education. That is one reason why the British Government has for many years been running its Chevening scholarship programme, allowing students from across the world to further their education and prepare for leadership in their own country through studying in Britain.

Dictators know that education underpins democracy, which is why universities suffer under authoritarian rule. Foreign Secretary William Hague, speaking in September 2010, noted that a key aspect of our international promotion of human rights should be to “use our considerable experience … in education and civil society and the building of institutions .. to help foster positive change..”.

Nothing is more important to sustaining the “culture of democracy”.

About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

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"democracy day" "uk ambassador vatican" #peace Chevening democracy Education Human Rights interfaith justice nigel baker un World Peace Day

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