This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Part of FCDO Human Rights UK in Sweden

23rd November 2012

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Guest blog by Jenny Söderqvist, Political Attaché at the British Embassy in Sweden

This Sunday is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – a UN initiative to raise awareness about this complex and serious problem. The date – 25 of November – has not been chosen at random, but marks the brutal assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, in 1960. That was over 50 years ago. But sadly, still today, we see too much violence against women and girls. This is a global problem that takes many different shapes and is closely linked to wider security and development issues.

One worrying example is the widespread sexual violence in war. From Bosnia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, rape has been used as a terrifying weapon in conflict. To raise awareness Foreign Secretary William Hague launched his Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) with UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in May. This initiative aims to increase the number of perpetrators brought to justice by supporting international efforts and co-ordination, to prevent and respond to sexual violence and helping states build national capacity.

The British government is working hard to raise awareness of the problem and design and pursue adequate long-term responses, driven by both women and men. At the Embassy we discussed this issue with Swedish women’s groups, policy makers and non-governmental representatives, when the Permanent Secretary at the British Department for International Development, Mark Lowcock, visited Sweden in September. They all had lots of good ideas how to deal with the root causes of violence against women. This meeting really underlined to me that although in many cases the victims were women and girls, they were also the key to the solution.  As an (often vocal!) woman myself I know what powerful advocates of change women can be.  Women and girls hardly ever fight the world’s wars, but they often suffer the most. It’s time we all took a stand to change this.

About Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially. He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide…

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially.

He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Paul joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993 as Desk Officer for Bosnia. As part of this role he was also Private Secretary to EU negotiator Lord Owen and his representative on Bosnia Contact Group.

His first foreign posting was to Paris in 1995-99 as Second Secretary Political. He was Private Secretary to the Ambassador and latterly part of the UK delegation to the Kosovo Rambouillet negotiations. Then he returned to London as Head of the Kosovo Policy Team, leading work on post-conflict policy in the EU, NATO, UN and G8.

Before his second overseas posting to New York in 2005, Paul held a variety of other EU policy and security appointments in London, such as Head of European Defence Section between 2000-01 and Head of Security Policy Department between 2002-04.

As Head of the Political Section in UKMIS New York, he advised on major policy issues for the UK on the Security Council and the UN World Summit, including the UK EU Presidency in 2005.

Paul returned to London in 2008 as Director, International Security for the FCO. He was responsible for policy on UN, NATO, European Security, arms control and disarmament, human rights and good governance.

Paul was British Ambassador to Sweden from August 2011 to August 2015 and then was Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.

He was UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security affairs from 2017 to January 2020 and became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020.

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