18th January 2021
Joint blog by Matt Field, British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Eric Nelson, U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina 2020 is over. Many of us have been counting the days until the end of the strangest of years. Of course the simple change of a calendar does not fix the problems we face, but it […]
21st December 2016 Abuja, Nigeria
Last weekend I was part of a team from the British High Commission, joined by US and German colleagues who travelled to Rivers State, Nigeria to observe the Rivers State re run elections. The elections in Rivers State are notoriously problematic (this was the third attempt at running the elections here), but we hoped that things […]
21st November 2016 Beirut, Lebanon
Mabrouk, Lebanon! There is a positive new mood in the country. Posters have gone up, and flags been hoisted. Just last week I was treated to a truly stately guard of honour and credentials ceremony at Baabda Palace, and was honoured to finally present my credentials to President Aoun. It has been a long time […]
23rd September 2016 UK, London
This week in New York, Burma reached another significant milestone, in what has already been a momentous year for the country. Among the throngs of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held a meeting to celebrate the conclusion of his partnership group on Burma – their work is complete. […]
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25th May 2016 Beirut, Lebanon
Lebanon “commemorates” today the two year anniversary since it last had a President. Notre Dame University recently marked the 500th anniversary of the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia. Erasmus thought More’s genius was “such as England never had and never again will have.” But beyond his national importance to my country, I think Thomas More […]
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7th May 2016 Beirut, Lebanon
Winston Churchill famously declared in 1947 that “democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” He was speaking from the floor of the House of Commons, the parliamentary chamber reserved for any “common” man or woman elected to represent the people of Britain. […]
4th February 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Earlier this week in Colombo, we gathered together a group of civil society and human rights organisations. For different reasons, Sri Lanka and Maldives are priorities for human rights for the UK. That gives the High Commission access to the Magna Carta Fund, a strategic programme fund dedicated to tackling the root causes of human […]
14th September 2015 Havana, Cuba
15 September marks the UN International Day of Democracy, a day on which Governments are encouraged to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy. The UN General Assembly resolution establishing the day encourages all member states to bring the day to the awareness of their citizens. The resolution also reaffirms the […]
21st August 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Monday’s general election was very tight. It was also remarkably peaceful. From the President and Elections Commissioner down, all involved have commented positively on the conduct of the election, many describing it as Sri Lanka’s best in decades. It’s not for the UK to support one party over another. Our interest is for Sri Lanka […]
24th May 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
Today I visited the Presidential Palace to thank President Sleiman for his leadership. Throughout his mandate he has led Lebanon with great dignity and wisdom, and worked tirelessly for unity and consensus. He has just left the building. In theory, a new President should be preparing to arrive, making the last adjustments to his or […]
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