25th June 2018 Geneva, Switzerland
My Council session got off to an unfortunate and slightly messy start. As I rushed to leave the house I discovered that the cat had regurgitated something unpleasant inside my freshly polished work shoes. I’m not prone to superstition but it felt like a worrying omen for what lay ahead. And so it proved to be. […]
29th March 2018 Geneva, Switzerland
Voting days at the Council have always been stressful, and things don’t seem to be getting any easier with age. The drawback of having been around in these parts for longer than most is that I’m expected to know what I’m doing, especially when it comes to the finer points of the UN’s rules of […]
19th March 2018 Geneva, Switzerland
Since the number of blog followers clamouring for a Council update has now reached single figures (thanks Nuala) I thought I’d better respond. It’s been busy. And cold. But mostly busy. As the 3rd week of the session came to end, UN staff voted to go on strike over impending allowance cuts, which suspended the […]
3rd July 2017 Geneva, Switzerland
The Council came to a hot and weary end last Friday with some good results on the issues that mattered. Most importantly the EU and the African Group reached agreement on an investigation into reports of serious violations in the DRC. The Council also passed strong resolutions on violence against women, discrimination against women, child […]
16th June 2017 Beirut, Lebanon
After each terrorist attack, we repeat to ourselves the reassuring mantra that the terrorists won’t win, and they won’t. But on one level, the mantra can sound empty. Terrorists will, sadly, continue to kill and spread fear across many regions of the world. The recent attacks and harrowing experiences of Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge […]
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27th March 2017 Geneva, Switzerland
My last blog worried some of you enough that you offered to send biscuits to my children in adult-proof containers. I’d like to offer some reassurance that my kids have started hiding their chocolate almost forgiven me for my thievery and that I am now receiving professional support for my wafer addiction. My wife has […]
20th March 2017 Geneva, Switzerland
I’m in big trouble. For the second Sunday running I’ve single-handedly, polished off a 26-pack of chocolate wafer biscuits which were supposed to be carefully rationed for the kids over the weeks ahead. I know it’s not going to do me much good come the morning as I try and squeeze into my suit, but […]
5th October 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
The physical experience of going through a Council session feels rather like having your head banged against a wall. It’s nice when it stops, but otherwise not particularly enjoyable. So there was a sense of delirium in the air when we headed out of the doors at a reasonable time last Friday evening. Three weeks […]
30th March 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
The Council closed last Thursday after a health sapping, sleep deprived and occasionally fractious month, but the results were good. Following weeks of pressure from all regions, South Sudan accepted that its human rights record should be kept under close scrutiny by the Council and committed to cooperating wtih a strong new Commission of investigators […]
21st March 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
The Syrian conflict is the source of the most immediate threats now facing the United Kingdom and Europe. Dealing with it has become the most important agenda in Geneva. Our citizens have travelled to the conflict and came back radicalised and ready to commit acts of terrorism. Regional rivals have been drawn into the conflict […]