Marianne Young

Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Read biography

7th September 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Namibia brings back gold!

Namibia is celebrating after female paralympic sprinter Johanna Benson won gold in the Women’s T37 200 metres final in London on Wednesday night – marking the first Olympic gold for the country after a remarkable career. Johanna had also picked up a silver medal earlier in the week for coming in second in the women’s […]

Read more on Namibia brings back gold! | Reply (1)

17th August 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Public speaking and championing women in the board room

It is always a rather heart-stopping moment when you arrive at an official function as a diplomat and find you’re billed as a key note guest speaker with no prepared speech to deliver. It happened to me a week into my first African posting in Swaziland. I turned up at a rural event to discover […]

Read more on Public speaking and championing women in the board room | Reply

30th July 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Tributes and tribulations to mark opening of Olympic Games and Olympic Truce in Namibia

Not many people know that the Olympics was historically a period of peace in ancient Greece, when warring factions put down their arms and focussed on competing rather than attacking each other. This ancient Greek tradition of “ekecheiria”: ‘truce’ helped encourage a special environment for the early Games, and ensured safe passage and participation of […]

Read more on Tributes and tribulations to mark opening of Olympic Games and Olympic Truce in Namibia | Reply

23rd July 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Team Namibia Olympic send off to mark the final countdown to London 2012

It has been a whirl of Olympic activities this week in Windhoek – as we enter the final countdown to the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games this Friday – now only 4 days away! I joined members of Team Namibia, made up of the remarkable ‘qualified’ young Namibian sportsmen and women and representatives […]

Read more on Team Namibia Olympic send off to mark the final countdown to London 2012 | Reply (1)

14th June 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Celebrating the Queen’s Birthday and Diamond Jubilee in Windhoek

There were plenty of reasons to celebrate at this year’s annual Queen’s Birthday Party in Windhoek yesterday. As well as marking Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s official birthday, we celebrated her Diamond Jubilee and saluted her 60 years on the throne and as Head of the Commonwealth. We also used the event to highlight the […]

Read more on Celebrating the Queen’s Birthday and Diamond Jubilee in Windhoek | Reply

6th June 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

One of Namibia’s lesser known gems: a gold-filled 16th century Portuguese shipwreck

As well as being rich in minerals and boasting some of the most spectacular landscapes in Africa (if not the world), Namibia can also claim to be the site of some extraordinary archaeological finds. During my recent familiarisation trip to the south of the country, I had the opportunity to visit one of these special […]

Read more on One of Namibia’s lesser known gems: a gold-filled 16th century Portuguese shipwreck | Reply

17th May 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Chargéing’ in Windhoek

Guest blog by new British High Commission Windhoek Deputy High Commissioner Simon Atkinson: As a diplomat, there’s a (worrying) tinge of homeliness about airports. Not that I enjoy them much, more that they’ve become very familiar. As I perch on the latest bit of uncomfortable plastic (wishing the sense of homeliness would miraculously transform it into […]

Read more on Chargéing’ in Windhoek | Reply

7th May 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Flying the Olympic flag in Namibia

Guest blog by Sonny Beukes, British High Commission Windhoek Press and Public Affairs officer. There was a big commotion at Wernhil Park in central Windhoek last Saturday, 28 April. Olympic banners and flags decorated the openspace in front of Pick n Pay where the British High Commission, in collaboration with the Namibia National Olympic Committee and […]

Read more on Flying the Olympic flag in Namibia | Reply

11th April 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Doing business in Namibia

I launched a new business guide funded by the British High Commission called Doing Business in Namibia yesterday at the latest lunch meeting of the British Business Group (BBG) in Windhoek. The launch was attended by a number of local and visiting special guests as well as BBG members spanning the mining, marine and financial […]

Read more on Doing business in Namibia | Reply (2)

About Marianne Young

Marianne Young is the current British High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia. She arrived in Windhoek in June 2011 and presented her credentials to the President of the Republic of…

Marianne Young is the current British High Commissioner to the
Republic of Namibia. She arrived in Windhoek in June 2011 and presented
her credentials to the President of the Republic of Namibia on 3rd
August.
Mrs Young joined the FCO in 2001 following a career in international
journalism, including time spent running an Asian maritime press office
in Singapore and a traineeship on the UK’s Times newspaper.
Her first role in the FCO was as a Press Officer in News Department,
after which she went on to be Head of the Great Lakes Section in Africa
Directorate and then Head of the East Africa & Horn Section.
In 2005, she became the first Head of Communications for the Engaging with the Islamic World Group.
She moved to the British High Commission in Pretoria in February 2007
and served as the Head of the External Political Section and Deputy
High Commissioner to the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland.
Mrs Young moved across to the British High Commission in Windhoek in
June 2011, and presented her credentials to the President of the
Republic of Namibia on 3rd August 2011.
On her appointment as British High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia, Mrs Young said:
“I am honoured and delighted to be appointed Her Majesty’s High
Commissioner to Namibia. I look forward to working to strengthen the
many commercial, political and cultural ties between our two countries,
and to help the many British nationals who holiday there. My family and I
are particularly thrilled to be remaining in southern Africa – and to
have the opportunity to explore this beautiful country further and
discover more about its people and culture.”
Curriculum vitae

Full name:
Marianne Young

Married to:
Barry Young

Children:
Two daughters and one son

 
June 2011
Windhoek, British High Commissioner

2007 – 2011
 
Pretoria, Head of External Political Section and DHC for the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland

2005 – 2006
FCO, Head of Communications, Engaging with the Islamic World Group

2004 – 2005
FCO, Head of East Africa & Horn Section, Africa Directorate

3/2003 – 8/2003
FCO, Head of Great Lakes Section, Africa Directorate

2002 – 2003
FCO, Press Officer, Press Office

2001 – 2002
FCO, Departmental Report Editor, Press Office

2001
Joined FCO

2000-2001
Senior Correspondent, Fairplay Group, UK

1995-2000
Staff Editor and then Asia Editor, Fairplay Group Singapore

1994-1995
Graduate Trainee at The Times newspaper, UK

Follow Marianne