Thomas Fletcher | |
---|---|
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator | |
Assumed office 9 October 2024 | |
Appointed by | António Guterres |
Preceded by | Martin Griffiths |
British Ambassador to Lebanon | |
In office 2011–2015 | |
Preceded by | Frances Guy |
Succeeded by | Hugo Shorter |
Personal details | |
Born | 27 March 1975 |
Nationality | British |
Children | 2 |
Thomas Stuart Francis Fletcher CMG (born 27 March 1975) is a British diplomat and writer who has served as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator since 2024. [1] [2]
He was Principal of Hertford College,Oxford,from 2020 to 2024, [3] having previously served as British Ambassador to Lebanon and a foreign affairs policy adviser at 10 Downing Street. [4] [5]
Fletcher was born in Kent and educated at The Harvey Grammar School and Hertford College,Oxford,where he was awarded first class honours degree in modern history. At Oxford he was president of the college's Junior Common Room.
Fletcher joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and held diplomatic posts in Nairobi and Paris. He was also private secretary to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers Baroness Amos and Chris Mullin. [6] While in Kenya,he took part in a high-profile charity boxing match with the mayor of Nairobi,who had t-shirts printed saying "Fletcher goes home on a stretcher". [7]
Between 2007 and 2011,Fletcher was the foreign policy and Northern Ireland adviser to Prime Ministers Tony Blair,Gordon Brown and David Cameron. [1] In his memoirs,Gordon Brown called him "indispensable and indefatigable." [8] In his book For the Record ,David Cameron wrote:"There was one man who would prove essential:Tom Fletcher. Tom became my support,sounding board and source of information about virtually every country on Earth". [9]
From 2011 to 2015 Fletcher served as British Ambassador to Lebanon,where he pioneered a more open style of diplomacy,with many of his blogposts going viral (Dear Lebanon [10] and Yalla Bye [11] ). The BBC made a documentary,The Naked Diplomat,about his work, [12] which involved initiatives on refugee education,job creation [13] and border security. [14] The Daily Telegraph reported that he was behind a secret plan that prevented Islamic State from entering Lebanon from Syria. [15]
In partnership with the Banque du Liban,Fletcher spearheaded the launch of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub,an international accelerator using London as a platform for Lebanese technology businesses to grow internationally. [16] By December 2018,the hub had helped to grow 91 start-ups,raising more than $64 million in venture funding and creating more than 2,000 jobs in Lebanon and the United Kingdom. [17]
Fletcher caused controversy by donating blood after a terrorist attack against the Iranian embassy in Beirut in 2013,and becoming a domestic worker to highlight migrant rights. He founded One Lebanon,an annual concert bringing together Lebanese celebrities from across the sectarian divide. [18]
Arab News described him as "the anti-diplomat" because of his steadfast refusal to live up to the stereotype expected of the ambassadorial profession. [19] He was commended by many commentators for his viral online farewell,which resurrected the old Foreign and Commonwealth Office tradition of the valedictory despatch. [20] In December 2015 he was given the Lovie Special Achievement award [21] for his use of social media while serving in Lebanon.
In October 2024 Fletcher was nominated by Keir Starmer to succeed Martin Griffiths as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator [2] ,the sixth Briton in a row to hold the role,despite efforts by some countries to have the United Nations Secretary-General,António Guterres,appoint someone of a different nationality. [1]
Fletcher's first book,The Naked Diplomat:Power and Statecraft in the Digital Age,was published by Harper Collins in 2016. [22] Gordon Brown called it "diplomatic genius",and David Cameron wrote that it was "a great read from a brilliant diplomat". The Times called it "a brilliant,funny polemic ... a cracking read", [23] and The Guardian called it "a call for us all to reconsider our place in society ... to be brave,creative,involved and connected". [24]
He is also the author of Ten Survival Skills for a World in Flux (2022),The Ambassador (2022) and The Assassin (2024),and in 2017 published a report on the future of the United Nations in the digital age. [25] In 2023 he presented a BBC series entitled The Battle for Liberal Democracy. [26]
Fletcher was a visiting professor of International Relations at New York University, [27] a visiting professor at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, [28] and an adviser to the Global Business Coalition for Education.[ citation needed ] He became an Honorary Fellow of Hertford College, [29] and from 2020 to 2024 served as Principal of the college. [30] [3]
Fletcher is the project director of Towards Global Learning Goals,a network that aims to create equal opportunities,develop the skills needed to thrive in a new economy,and make it easier for people on the move to adapt. [31]
He chaired the international board of the Creative Industries Federation, [32] and was a founding member of the Global Tech Panel. In 2018 he founded the Foundation for Opportunity to share ideas,skills and experience and support future leaders in delivering positive change. [33]
He is married to Louise Fletcher,an Irish counselling psychologist,with whom has two sons. According to The Sunday Times [34] and a video Fletcher recorded on social media, [35] he collected a book of advice for his sons from world leaders,including Barack Obama,George W. Bush and Bill Clinton,while working for 10 Downing Street.
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state,intergovernmental,or nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or international organizations.
Sir Jeremy Quentin Greenstock is a British retired diplomat,active from 1969 to 2004.
Sir Ivor Anthony Roberts is a retired British diplomat and the former President of Trinity College,Oxford. He was previously British Ambassador to Yugoslavia,Ireland,and Italy. He was knighted in 2000. In addition to his British citizenship,he is now an Irish citizen.
Thomas Reeve Pickering is a retired United States ambassador. Among his many diplomatic appointments,he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1989 to 1992.
Peter Forbes Ricketts,Baron Ricketts,is a retired British senior diplomat and a life peer. He has sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords since 2016.
Digital diplomacy,also referred to as Digiplomacy and eDiplomacy,has been defined as the use of the Internet and new information communication technologies to help achieve diplomatic objectives. However,other definitions have also been proposed. The definition focuses on the interplay between internet and diplomacy,ranging from Internet driven-changes in the environment in which diplomacy is conducted to the emergence of new topics on diplomatic agendas such as cybersecurity,privacy and more,along with the use of internet tools to practice diplomacy.
Richard Oliver Miles CMG was a British Ambassador and former chairman of the international business development company MEC International.
Patrick Richard Henry Wright,Baron Wright of Richmond,was a British diplomat who served as Head of HM Diplomatic Service.
Sir Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles is a British former diplomat. He was the Foreign Secretary's Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009–2010. After leaving the Foreign Office,he worked briefly for BAE Systems as international business development director. He left BAE Systems in 2013 and is now a senior adviser to the group chairman and the group chief executive of HSBC. He is also president of the Jane Austen Society.
Thomas David Boyatt is a former diplomat and United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso (1978–80) and Colombia (1980–83). He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy. He was held captive for six days in a Palestinian hijacking in the 1960s. He graduated from Wyoming High School in 1951. He continues to return to his former high school to speak to students during the Wyoming School Foundation Day.
Phyllis Elliott Oakley was an American diplomat who served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population,Refugees,and Migration (1994–1997) and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research (1997–1999). She was married to former Ambassador Robert B. Oakley and was a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Council on Foreign Relations. Oakley was a graduate of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,at Tufts University.
Peter Michael McKinley is an American diplomat. A career Foreign Service Officer,McKinley served as U.S. Ambassador to Peru (2007–2010),Colombia (2010–2013),Afghanistan (2015–2016),and Brazil (2017–2018),and then as Senior Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State (2018–2019).
Sir Richard John Dalton is a former senior member of the British Diplomatic Service. His assignments included British Ambassador to Libya and Iran. He retired from the Diplomatic Service in 2006. He is currently an Associate Fellow at Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Programme. He was knighted in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Sir Alan Ewen Donald was a British diplomat who was the United Kingdom ambassador to Indonesia and China.
Mockbul Ali is a British diplomat with over 20 years experience in international security,conflict negotiation and has extensive expertise in the Muslim world. He has served in a number of high profile roles including foreign policy adviser on the Muslim world to three former Foreign Secretaries,Chief of Staff to the British PM’s Special Envoy to Libya,Deputy Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain and as the British Ambassador to the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti.
David Tatham is an English former ambassador and Governor of the Falkland Islands,1992–1996. He was also editor of The Dictionary of Falklands Biography.
Moazzam Tufail Malik is a former British civil servant and diplomat. He is Managing Director at the World Resources Institute,and Chair at the Muslim Charities Forum,an umbrella NGO for faith based charities in the UK.
Nassif Youssef Hitti is a Lebanese diplomat,academic,professor and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants.
Georgina Susan Butler is a retired British diplomat. After postings at the Foreign Office,UKREP in Brussels,the European Commission,and in Washington D.C.,she served as British Ambassador to Costa Rica and to Nicaragua.
Martin Alexander Baillie Reynolds is a British civil servant who served as Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2022. Reynolds previously served as British Ambassador to Libya under Prime Minister Theresa May and as the principal private secretary to Johnson when he served as Foreign Secretary in May's government.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)