23rd November 2014 Chennai, India
I’ve spent most of my career working on Africa and its issues. It’s a beautiful, resilient, inspiring continent. The people are simply extraordinary. But I’ve also seen first-hand the prevalence of violence against women there. That’s true in conflict – in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and most recently as Ambassador to the Central […]
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10th June 2014 Dublin, Ireland
In May 2012, British Foreign Secretary William Hague launched the “Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative” or “PSVI” In short, PSVI is about preventing the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon in conflict. In so many conflict situations, it affects not only large numbers of women, but also men and children. However, the perpetrators of […]
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10th February 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
It’s been quite a fortnight. At the end of January, I accompanied the UK Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, to the AU Summit in Addis Ababa and then to Somalia. In Dollow – the first time a British Minister has visited southern Somalia in recent years, Mr Mitchell saw for himself the huge difference that UKaid […]
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12th October 2011
Following the verdict in the Tymoshenko trial, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said: “The conviction of the Ukrainian opposition politician, Yuliya Tymoshenko, by a court in Kyiv is deeply concerning. Independent legal experts including the Danish Helsinki Committee have concluded that Ms Tymoshenko’s trial was subject to numerous and serious violations of fundamental legal principles, […]
28th June 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
On Thursday, I visited the Police Lines headquarters in Islamabad. I was accompanying the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who wanted to pay his respects to the fallen martyrs of the Pakistani police service and to publicly recognise their sacrifices in serving Pakistan and its citizens. Mr Hague laid a wreath at the police monument […]
9th March 2011
The UK is strongly committed to the European Union’s enlargement process. And so on 9 March the UK’s Minister for Europe David Lidington will give a keynote speech on EU Enlargement in the Hague. We are not only convinced about the value of enlargement but have played a leading role in driving it through. We […]
12th October 2010 New York, USA
Guest blog: Mike Niles, Press & Public Affairs, British Consulate-General, New York Word to the wise: if you are ever in New York the third week of September and feel like a quiet walk through midtown Manhattan, I suggest taking a look at Central Park or Wall Street instead. When world leaders descend on midtown […]
5th July 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
The Cabinet Ministers of the new British coalition government are queuing up to come to Pakistan. In the past three weeks I have hosted both our new International Development Minister, Andrew Mitchell, and our new Foreign Minister, William Hague. It makes sense. Pakistan is already Britain’s second largest development programme and this is quite likely […]