23rd March 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
By the end of week 3 of any March Council session everyone tends to look pretty frazzled. The combination of lack of time for proper meals, general neglect in the finer aspects of personal grooming and the knowledge that the session still has some time to go tend to take their toll. But this year […]
9th March 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
While I was never the life and soul of all night parties – prone to having a little nap while others danced round me – I did at least used to be active and go out on a regular basis. These days, instead of thinking about finding new places to ski within easy reach of […]
2nd March 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
I hope you’re feeling fit and strong in time for this session. As I don’t have much time for exercise these days, I’ve been trying to get in shape before the Council by pushing my household chores to my physical limit. I’ve managed to improve my stamina, reactions and speed with new personal bests for double […]
10th December 2014 London, UK
For Human Rights Day Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire, blogs on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Last week, on the Thames embankment in London, I was honoured to attend the unveiling of a Memorial to the sacrifices made by British troops in the Korean War […]
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25th June 2014 Washington DC, USA
“What do British people hate?” A straightforward question – but context is everything. When posed by an earnest thirteen-year-old North Korean schoolboy, in a Q&A discussion with British diplomatic visitors, it took me by surprise. But then much of what my colleagues and I experienced during a week-long familiarisation visit to the Democratic People’s Republic […]
31st March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
It’s hard to convey quite what it’s like to go through a March Council session. The four-week experience is a prolonged assault on the mind, body and soul and while the end of the session is a cause for elation it also feels distinctly post-traumatic. The process of stress-decompression and re-entering normal life needs to […]
25th March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Every Council delegate will know what a strain the March session can put on your family life. Things have got so bad that I’m now considering looking for a new wife. It’s not for me though. My wife has got to the point that she’s told me she needs someone like her to help look […]
6th March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
A lot has happened here since the end of the last session. Starting with the most important, I became a dad again, when my little girl entered the world last November. My son had cleverly timed his birth 3 years ago with the Human Rights Council’s annual day on the rights of the child but […]
25th March 2013 Geneva, Switzerland
The session is over, the resolutions are all adopted and UN blue smoke has finally risen through the holes in the Council ceiling. After weeks of lock down without food, daylight or other things that make us happy, the Council delegates can start to think about a return to normality. But for those afflicted by […]
11th March 2013 Geneva, Switzerland
Strange things happen to the passage of time at the Human Rights Council. The days go on forever, the weeks feels like months and don’t get me started on what the months feel like. I’d thought this was just the inverse of time flying when you’re having fun but to make matters more confusing time […]
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