UK in Sri Lanka

16th June 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

800 years of the Magna Carta and Human Rights today

Only four copies of the 1215 Magna Carta still exist: one is held at Lincoln Cathedral, one at Salisbury Cathedral and two are held at the British Library in London.

For centuries, the Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede in England in 1215, has been quoted to help promote human rights and alleviate suffering all around the world. This week, we are celebrating its 800th anniversary, and its continuing relevance today.  To mark the anniversary, my colleagues at the UK Mission in Geneva hosted a […]

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27th May 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

To be or not to be… Shakespeare’s Globe comes to Colombo

On 14 May, Shakespeare’s Globe came to Colombo. Sri Lanka was their 96th stopover in their Globe to Globe challenge to perform Hamlet in every single country in the world. Here in Sri Lanka, they performed twice, a free matinee for 20 schools from across Colombo, and an evening production. Junior prefects from the British […]

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13th May 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

The Road to Recovery

This year, Mental Health Awareness Week focuses on mindfulness. Mindfulness helps people observe the way they think and feel about their experiences, good or bad – a valuable tool for staying mentally healthy. It can help people with mental and physical health problems, from stress, depression and anxiety to chronic pain, eating disorders and concentration. Georgina […]

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28th April 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

100 years since Gallipoli: Ceylon’s role remembered

On Saturday 25 April, I laid a wreath at the Borella Kanatta Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Colombo, at one of the two events organised that day by the Australian High Commission to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Allied landings at Gallipoli during the First World War. It was an opportunity to reflect again […]

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4th April 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Treading carefully

By September 2014 Clearance completed. 90 families have returned.

To mark Mine Awareness and Action Day, I asked our partners HALO Trust to write about their work in Sri Lanka. “The HALO Trust is the world’s largest and oldest humanitarian demining organisation, with staff in 17 counties and territories around the world. Our core activity is clearing mine-contaminated land needed for housing, agriculture and […]

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2nd March 2015 Geneva, Switzerland

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by Bob Last

Head, UK Mission Political and Human Rights Team

Marching On

I hope you’re feeling fit and strong in time for this session. As I don’t have much time for exercise these days, I’ve been trying to get in shape before the Council by pushing my household chores to my physical limit. I’ve managed to improve my  stamina, reactions and speed with new personal bests for double […]

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19th February 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

A visit to the Vanni

Sunrise over Mullaitivu beach

Earlier this week, the UN Human Rights Council agreed to Prince Zeid’s request to defer consideration of his office’s investigation into the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka to the summer. The UK was a main sponsor of the resolution setting up the investigation and we remain committed to it. Those who provided information to […]

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6th February 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

A Ringside Seat

Hugo Swire, our Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, visited Sri Lanka last week. It’s always good to get in early, and his was the first bilateral visit to the new Government of Sri Lanka. It was an exciting opportunity for my Government to congratulate President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe face to face, and […]

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26th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Searching for Maya

For our final blog in our#TsunamiRemembered series, we turn to fiction, sometimes the best way to make sense of facts. Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe is the author of Rhythm of the Sea and Trinity. Her 2011 book of poetry, There’s an Island in the Bone  won the 2011 State Literary Joint Award for poetry. She was longlisted for […]

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25th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Laura Davies » Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

by Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Waves of Compassion

In our penultimate #TsunamiRemembered blog, Tesco, the MCC, an ancestral home and overwhelming compassion come together to help rural talent shine. Kushil Gunasekera describes his vision for Foundation of Goodness. I was born in the rural village of Seenigama, but educated in Colombo, and was always determined to bridge the gap between the rural and […]

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