24th October 2012
The UN General Assembly is currently discussing the terms of a resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. It is likely to go to a vote next month. The last time there was such a vote (in 2010), 109 states were in favour, 41 against, and 35 abstained. The United Kingdom and […]
27th September 2012
On 25 September, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague co-hosted an event at the UN General Assembly alongside Zainab Bangura, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. He spoke about his Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), launched in London last May. The PSVI aims to strengthen international efforts and co-ordination to prevent and […]
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13th September 2012
The UN International Day of Democracy falls on 15 September, a day on which Governments are encouraged to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy. The theme this year is Democracy Education. As the relevant UN web-page notes: “It is only with educated citizens that a sustainable culture of democracy can […]
13th July 2012
I take my title from the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, which on 3 July published a report on an important new development initiative in the United Kingdom, called “Faith Partnership Principles”. On 26 June, the Faith Partnership Principles paper was launched at an inter-faith event at Lambeth Palace, convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and […]
4th April 2012 Bucharest, Romania
I’m continuing my section of guest bloggers with Felicia Alexandru, our Senior Political Officer. I invited Felicia to talk about a recent project she worked on, organising a seminar on asset recovery, set up in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Justice and also the National Anticorruption Directorate. Let’s find out more! Romania and the […]
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24th February 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
In my opinion the London Conference on Somalia yesterday was a great success. In case you missed any of it then you can find full reports and links here. It was the biggest conference on Somalia, involving the greatest number of senior leaders, from as wide a range of countries and international organisations, as seen […]
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17th January 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
So far, we’ve had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the British Prime Minister’s announcement to host a Conference on Somalia in London next month. After 20 years of sliding backwards, it’s clear – and welcomed by many – that Somalia needs a step-change in effort, both from the international community, but also Somalia’s political leaders. […]
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4th January 2012
Back in 2009 I wrote a blog entitled “How to win the anti-corruption league”. In that blog I lamented the fact that Ukraine now stood at place 146 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International. I noted how corruption reduced inward investment, and how helpful it would be if Ukraine could […]
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13th December 2011
‘Surely,’ my Ukrainian interlocutor says, ‘you must accept that Tymoshenko is guilty of something, even if it’s impossible to prove. Everybody knows it. Look how many things she is being charged with.’ ‘But without a credible legal process,’ I say, ‘the charges are meaningless. Adding more and more charges simply makes the legal process look […]
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20th September 2011
The tiger is gigantic, looming against a glowing golden background. Behind it, cubs frolic. Near the work, Tiger Club by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, Ukrainian and foreign politicians including President Victor Yanukovych, Israeli President Shimon Peres and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair engage at the 8th annual Yalta European Strategy Forum (YES) “Ukraine and […]