28th November 2016 London, UK
25 November marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. As the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, I have seen first-hand the impact of sexual violence against women and girls in countries like Bosnia, Burma, Colombia, DRC, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. I have seen the […]
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15th September 2016 London, UK
A year ago today, to mark International Day of Democracy, I launched the Magna Carta Partnership Initiative. This consisted of a series of small projects in selected parts of the world where we judged that UK expertise could reinvigorate and promote the development of democracy, and strengthen the rule of law. Through this support, we […]
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5th September 2016 London, UK
This week, London will host a day of talks dedicated to United Nations Peacekeeping and how to make it work better. The UK has invited Ministers and representatives from over 70 countries and international organisations to participate in these discussions. UN Peacekeeping is facing new and previously unimaginable challenges. The last five years have seen […]
7th July 2016 London, UK
This week, our Ambassadors and High Commissioners have returned to London for Leadership Week. I took the opportunity to speak with them, alongside my fellow peers in the House of Lords, about the agreement reached at the Paris climate Conference of Parties (COP21) and to provide reassurance about the Government’s commitment to tackling global climate […]
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18th November 2015 London, UK
Looking back on my first visit to Iraq I am struck not only by the challenges the country faces, but also the dedication and energy of both the people of Iraq and those who are working tirelessly to secure the stable and prosperous future they so deserve. In the four days that I spent between […]
26th October 2015 London, UK
I attended the United Nations General Assembly this year and was struck by the breadth of events designed to promote and protect women’s rights. There were celebrations to mark 20 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the best international blueprint for realising women’s rights. We also reaffirmed our commitment […]
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9th October 2015 London, UK
On 24 September, the FCO hosted an event to launch The Torture Reporting Handbook. This is a guide on how to document and respond to allegations within the international system. Anyone who has seen the horrifying words of a torture survivor written in a report by Freedom from Torture will be appalled at the inhumanity […]
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17th September 2015 London, UK
On UN International Democracy Day 2015, I was delighted to host an event to launch the FCO’s first human rights initiative of this Parliament: Magna Carta Partnerships, a new agile fund to deploy British legal and parliamentary expertise to help reinvigorate global support for democracy and rule of law. In this 800th anniversary of the […]
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4th August 2015 London, UK
There has been much written this week about the UK’s position on the death penalty. Most has been inaccurate and I want to set the record straight. It remains Government policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle and this has not changed. Our view is clear. We believe […]
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