22nd November 2018
New York, USA
The Syrian conflict has dragged on for seven long awful years. Over 400,000 people have been killed and half Syria’s population displaced. A terrible price has been paid by the Syrian people for the failure to make the Geneva Agreement of 2012 stick. This agreement identified steps for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a […]
Read more on Holding Russia to account at the United Nations: Russia’s role in blocking progress in Syria and flouting the rules of international law | Reply
23rd May 2018
Vienna, Austria
The crystals are colourless and brittle. They could be an illegal narcotic substance. How to find out? Here at the UK Mission to the United Nations in Vienna we work closely with the UN office on Drugs and Crime. Policy on drugs, which are produced and consumed in countries across the world, is a classic […]
Read more on What a drug lab looks like – in Vienna | Reply
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 […]
Read more on Unruly Behaviour | Reply (5)
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 […]
Read more on The Chill Factor | Reply (2)
20th September 2017
Vienna, Austria
When I was posted to Vienna in the 1980s, one of my unofficial roles at parties where foreigners were present was, as a German speaker, to go to the door when the police arrived to ask us to turn the music down. The police often arrived at 22.00 after receiving complaints from the neighbours. Generally […]
Read more on Boldly going: how the UN is helping govern space | Reply
18th September 2017
Geneva, Switzerland
The seasons change fast in Switzerland though nothing quite takes the shine off a summer break like a week holed up in UN meetings. Once they begin, life becomes a strange combination of rapid high energy bursts of darting about, mixed with prolonged bouts of repetitive drudgery. Spending hours arguing over the wording of resolutions […]
Read more on Uniting Against Slavery | Reply
11th September 2017
Geneva, Switzerland
It’s been a summer of car-related mishaps. The Swiss do many things well, though they must be among the best in the world when it comes to handing out speeding fines. I managed to pick up two tickets for going 1km and 2 km an hour over the limit and to add insult to injury, […]
Read more on Back at the Wheel | Reply
31st March 2017
Kolkata, India
The cross over point is arriving soon, at some point early in 2021. This is when India becomes the world’s most populous country, according to population projections produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of the United Nations. As of 2015, those in the cohort aged 25-29 years in China were the last […]
Read more on The next generation | Reply
28th March 2017
Vienna, Austria
What do Project NEPTUNE and New Zealand have in common? Both are working to tackle the problem of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), also known as legal highs. I recently opened an expert panel in Vienna, organised by the UK and New Zealand with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, on tackling NPS. The New […]
Read more on Legal highs and “NPS”: concrete steps | Reply
13th March 2017
Geneva, Switzerland
While there haven’t exactly been howls of protest about my online silence these last few weeks, the number of people asking what I’ve been up to rose to three on Friday (excluding my last boss who is clearly still keeping tabs on me from afar), so I feel a little sheepish and neglectful. The main reason […]
Read more on Change in the Air | Reply (3)
