17th July 2025
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
15th July 2025
International Day of Women in Diplomacy: UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls visit to Geneva
1st May 2025
The UN Commission on the Status of Women: My first visit as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
16th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Say no to Sexual Violence
The use of sexual violence in war is one of the great injustices of our lifetime. It is hard to document, let alone investigate. Perpetrators do not discriminate, because it’s not about sex, but violence, terror, power and control. When rape is committed during conflict, it has often been seen as an inevitable part of […]
16th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Digamos no a la violencia sexual
El uso de la violencia sexual en las guerras es una de las mayores injusticias de nuestro tiempo. Se trata de un fenómeno difícil de documentar y más difícil aún de investigar. Sus autores no discriminan porque en definitiva, no se trata de sexo, sino de violencia, de terror, de poder y de control. Cuando […]
16th June 2014 British High Commission, Kingston, Jamaica
“Go de R**s to sleep…” & other memories of Calabash
I have been to literary festivals in the UK – usually in rain soaked parts of England. This was my first time at Calabash. Jamaica’s biannual literary event is more than a festival. And also less. It is two and a half days of readings, interviews and performances by Caribbean and non-Caribbean writers set against […]
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16th June 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Bursting at the Seams
The Human Rights Council is getting too big for its trousers. I know how this feels as I have had to buy a new more spacious suit recently. June sessions used to start slowly, simmer in the second week and come nicely to the boil in week three. But this year week one has begun […]
13th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Celebrating the Queen’s Birthday with the Governor General
Australia’s new Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, is clearly enjoying his role. He gave a very warm speech at a dinner in Canberra last night, hosted by the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Australia Britain Society (of which I am the Patron) to celebrate the birthday of HM The Queen. The Governor General used the […]
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12th June 2014 Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa does its bit to mark this week’s Global Summit!
If you’re in Ottawa and don’t know what this means, you clearly weren’t downtown last night. That’s when we lit up the façade of the High Commission on Elgin in red to show our solidarity with the work of over 1,000 people in London at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict…
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12th June 2014 Jerusalem, Israel
Welcome to my new blog!
Welcome to my new blog! Some of you will remember me from my time as Ambassador in South Sudan. Others will be meeting me for the first time. I have been in Jerusalem for five months and would like to start a conversation with you about this fascinating part of the world. My first five […]
12th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ending Sexual Violence as a Tool of War
Sexual violence committed in war zones has been not only an abomination against humanity but a growing problem. Long seen as an inevitable consequence of a breakdown of law and order and often regarded as a ‘lesser crime’, it is increasingly being used as a means of war to humiliate and devastate communities belonging to the […]
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12th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
#TimeToAct – emblazoned across the Australian sky
I’m not a fan of hot air. Although when you’re floating in a balloon over Australia’s capital city Canberra, and it’s the only thing keeping you up there, you’re rather glad of it. The balloon was emblazoned with the hashtag #TimeToAct. We were drawing attention to the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict, […]
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12th June 2014 London, UK
Now it is #TimeToAct
The use of sexual violence in war is one of the great injustices of our lifetime. It is hard to document, let alone investigate. Perpetrators do not discriminate, because it’s not about sex, but violence, terror, power and control. When rape is committed during conflict, it has often been seen as an inevitable part of […]