20th September 2013 Paris, France
Everyone is working incredibly hard at the moment to deal with the conflict in Syria. This conflict reminds us all again that all too often we find that rape and sexual violence is used as an instrument of war, particularly against women.
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16th September 2013 Geneva, Switzerland
September didn’t used to be like this. It was the session which could be relied upon for a genteel beginning as delegates eased themselves in after the summer, meeting new colleagues and renewing old acquaintances before getting down to some serious Council business. But not any more. This session has got off to a blistering […]
3rd September 2013 Washington DC, USA
Today is my first day as Britain’s Deputy Ambassador to the United States. It’s a real privilege to be starting my new role. Partly that’s because it’s simply a terrific job. I’m in charge of making sure that the Embassy and the UK’s ten other posts in the US work together smoothly, which will be […]
9th August 2013 Montreal, Canada
The health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities is closely linked to connection with the environment – connecting people with place – and from the strength of culture that grows from this connectivity. For millennia, Indigenous communities read continuously and cumulatively signs of ecological wellness, and for example the health of an animal is considered in […]
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6th June 2013 Paris, France
The subject we’ve been working very closing with the French on in the last few weeks has been Syria, which has of course been very prominent in the media. And it’s a terrible human disaster: apart from its dangerous regional implications, we believe that 80,000 people may have been killed over the last two years. […]
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3rd May 2013
Today we mark World Press Freedom Day. Twenty years ago, 3 May was declared a day to celebrate Press Freedom. Since then, the day has done much to raise awareness about the value of press freedom and freedom of speech. The theme this year is ‘Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in all Media.’ […]
29th April 2013 Toronto, Canada
“The Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare is an occasion to mourn those who have suffered from these inhumane arms and to renew our resolve to eradicate them from our world.” – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon On 29 April 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention came into force. Its broad aim is to […]
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5th April 2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
I was very pleased to see that the Arms Trade Treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. This is the culmination of getting on for ten years of work by nations committed to better control of the international arms trade, and by NGOs and religious groups who have campaigned relentlessly to push […]
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30th January 2013
The British government, like Sweden, is a strong supporter of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. Our Prime Minister is honoured to be co-chairing the UN High Level Panel on the future of international development, which will make recommendations later this year on what the new international agenda should be after 2015, when the MDGs are […]
29th November 2012 Beirut, Lebanon
I’ve blogged previously about our work with the Palestinian veterans who fought with us in World War II, and questions of history and justice. Today is the Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Attention will rightly be focused on New York, where – just as Israel did in 1948 – Palestine is making […]