14th December 2015
Time to move on and let someone else take a turn. This is my last day in extraordinary Ethiopia as the British Ambassador. Goodbyes are never easy, but I have had an amazing four years getting to know this place – full of hospitable people and outstanding experiences. But as is common for most diplomats, we […]
5th October 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Just before the session began, someone told me about Mike the chicken who somehow managed to survive for 18 months despite being headless. There’s been more than a few times over the last year and a half when I’ve known how he felt. The demands of trying to work with a young family and badly […]
28th September 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
However it happens, giving birth to a resolution at the UN is always difficult. In olden times, when the Human Rights Council was but a twinkle in the eye of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the process remained unchanged down the generations. Drafts were put together in foetal form by aspiring parent delegations, and then discussed […]
7th September 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Who could fail to be moved by the photograph last week of the little Syrian boy on a Turkish beach? We have long grown numb to the statistics of the Syrian conflict yet here was a picture that captured with blinding clarity the human tragedy. Hundreds of little Aylans have drowned in the Mediterranean far […]
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30th March 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Council sessions take a heavy toll on all things that are close to us. Our partners, our children and our pets all suffer from weeks of neglect. So do our bags. Any object unfortunate enough to go into my rucksack during Council time will undergo a period of inanimate purgatory as draft resolutions, cereal bars, […]
20th August 2014
As I write, I am representing the #UK in an open session of the Africa Union’s #(AU) Peace and Security Council #PSC in Addis Ababa to commemorate World Humanitarian Day #WHD2014 – a date which marks, of course, the horrific bombing of #UN Headquarters in Baghdad in 2003. It seems today that the humanitarian system is being stretched […]
31st March 2014 Washington DC, USA
Diaspora – from Greek, “scattering, dispersion” Identity can be a complicated thing. What does it mean to be part of a diaspora? Do people always carry the old country with them or do they gradually leave it behind? You could read Zadie Smith or Jhumpa Lahiri for some answers. This isn’t a fictional question for me. Over […]
29th January 2014
This year agriculture is the main theme of the 22nd Assembly of Heads of State and Government at the African Union (AU) – the AU Summit, which is taking place this week. But African leaders are also deliberating on the peace and security of the continent. Country situations at the top of the agenda are […]
10th December 2013 Mogadishu, Somalia
Today marks International Human Rights Day. The UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 December as Human Rights Day in 1950, to bring attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. This is something we continue to wholeheartedly endorse, and strive to achieve. Today is […]
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6th December 2013 Mogadishu, Somalia
As part of our support to the 16 days of activism campaign, I have invited some our partners to share their stories. The Health Consortium is made up of a partnership between health authorities and Population Services International (PSI), Tropical Health Education Trust (THET), Health Poverty Action, Save the Children UK, and Trocaire. From 2010 […]