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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Holy See

9th May 2013

Somalia: What a difference a Year Makes

London Somalia Conference, 7 May 2013

Prime Minister David Cameron and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia co-hosted an important conference on Somalia in London on 7 May. As I told Vatican Radio, the conference was held under very different circumstances from the February 2012 London Somalia conference. Shortly before then, Benedict XVI had called on the world to act in response to the conflict, famine and humanitarian crisis Somalia faced. In a joint communiqué with the British Government, the Holy See had encouraged the international community “to support a coherent strategy on Somalia in order to end the crisis there, placing as a priority the protection and welfare of the people of the Horn of Africa”.

Britain responded to that appeal. The February 2012 Conference saw real progress. Since then, Al Shabaab’s field of operations and control of territory has been drastically reduced. Somalia has a new President and government. And the international community has been mobilised. At London-Somalia 2013, representatives of 54 countries and organisations attended, pledging further support and committing themselves to backing Somalia’s plans to improve security and policing, strengthen judicial institutions, and re-establish well-managed and transparent public finances.

The United Kingdom and Somalia are bound by living ties stretching back into history. Our international and global concerns mean that it is for Britain a duty and in our clear interest to help the Government of Somalia end the threat of war, terrorism, piracy and famine which have dominated Somalis’ lives far too long, and to seize this opportunity to build peace and stability for all Somalis and the wider region. At the end of April, we re-opened our Embassy in Mogadishu after 22 years of trauma. As President Hassan said at the conference, no country had ever recovered from total social and economic collapse without the support of the world. The new Somalia, the young sapling, can become a tree standing tall in the African bush, offering shade and protection to its people once again.

The conference has given Somalia the platform from which to start anew. It is a clear example of international solidarity in action.

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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