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

Laura Davies

Former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Part of

UK in Sri Lanka

12th July 2016 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 books that bind

It was a career first for me on Sunday, when I found myself selecting knickers for Her Majesty The Queen. No lèse-majesté this, rather part of the celebrations of the 210th anniversary of the building of the Governor’s Palace at Mount Lavinia.  This included a literary festival, featuring British authors who have written about or been […]

Read more on The books that bind | Reply (2)

23rd June 2016 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

Taking pride in PRIDE

Colombo is reaching the end of a three week celebration of PRIDE activities.  The events, largely coordinated by Equal Ground, included a Rainbow Bus Parade, a pop quiz, a Film Festival at the British Council and a kite festival – an appropriately diverse range of ways to draw attention to an important human right, the […]

Read more on Taking pride in PRIDE | Reply (5)

17th June 2016 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

Happy Birthday, Ma’am

Last night, we hosted a very special event at the High Commissioner’s residence: a party to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday.  Over 400 friends of the High Commission, from Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the UK, from Government to civil society to the private sector, gathered to toast the longest reigning monarch in […]

Read more on Happy Birthday, Ma’am | Reply

17th May 2016 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

Minding mental health

“It’s Mental Health Awareness week this week, and we’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on a recent mental health consular case the team has been supporting. A few weeks ago, a British National came for a holiday of a lifetime to the Maldives.  This person had a pre-existing mental health condition, but did not inform […]

Read more on Minding mental health | Reply (3)

3rd May 2016 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

Supporting Press Freedom

Today is World Press Freedom Day.  So it was appropriate that I spent Saturday evening at the Sri Lanka Inquirer awards ceremony, an event celebrating the culmination of British High Commission funded training and some of the best recent investigative journalism in Sri Lanka and Maldives. There is no freedom so worth defending as Freedom of […]

Read more on Supporting Press Freedom | Reply

14th April 2016 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

CRISP : gathering the innovators of tomorrow

Congratulations to our two Sri Lankan Chevening CRISP fellows for 2016, Gayani Abeyasinghe and Balathasan Sayanthan, who are about to start their three month programme at the Saïd Business School in Oxford.  This is the second year that Sri Lanka has been part of CRISP, a fellowship aimed at mid-career professionals from India and Sri […]

Read more on CRISP : gathering the innovators of tomorrow | Reply

4th April 2016 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

Clearing the way home: a blog for International Mine Action Day

Since 2010, the British Government has spent over £5 million on de-mining in Sri Lanka. Anyone wondering why humanitarian demining agencies are still working here years after the end of the war need look no further than the achievements of UK funded deminers in just two months this year. During February and March, the men […]

Read more on Clearing the way home: a blog for International Mine Action Day | Reply (1)

24th March 2016 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

Fashion, furlongs and fundamental rights

Last week, I awarded the prizes at Sri Lanka’s Young Speaker 2016 competition.  This is a testing event, in which young people have to make two short speeches, one prepared, and one on a topic given to them just two minutes before they take to the stage.  It’s organised by the British School in Colombo […]

Read more on Fashion, furlongs and fundamental rights | Reply

4th February 2016 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

Democracy at Home and Abroad

Earlier this week in Colombo, we gathered together a group of civil society and human rights organisations.  For different reasons, Sri Lanka and Maldives are priorities for human rights for the UK.  That gives the High Commission access to the Magna Carta Fund, a strategic programme fund dedicated to tackling the root causes of human […]

Read more on Democracy at Home and Abroad | Reply (1)

21st January 2016 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

Glorious British Cheeses in Colombo

There are 700 named varieties of British cheese.   On Monday night, at the High Commissioner’s Residence, we tasted four of these: a blue Stilton and a mature cheddar, two of the most famous British cheeses, as well as a Red Leicester and a white Stilton with mango and ginger. Cheddar is probably the most consumed […]

Read more on Glorious British Cheeses in Colombo | Reply