Foreign policy debate

Foreign policy debate

Young Crawley residents had the chance to question a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) diplomat at The Hawth last week (Friday July 9).

(l-r): Pravin Sanasy, Crawley Young Person's Council; Councillor Bob Lanzer, Leader of Crawley Borough Council; Gemma Thomson, FCO; Jimmy Javed, British Muslim Integration Trust; Sir Vincent Fean, FCO; Phil Rogers, Director of Community Services, Crawley Borough Council; Zeba Khan, Amma's Centre of Excellence (ACE); Cath Falvey and Humera Mirza, both Crawley Borough Council; Henry Smith MP

Sir Vincent Fean, former Ambassador to Libya, visited the town’s theatre and spoke to an invited audience of under 30s as part of the FCO’s outreach programme.

Sir Vincent shared his experiences and gave an outline of the FCO’s role and the work its staff undertake overseas before hearing the UK foreign policy concerns of local young people.

Issues raised included Gaza and the Government’s response, the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the USA and how it has changed and Iranian nuclear development.

Councillor Nigel Boxall, Cabinet member for Community Engagement, said:

“Crawley has always been committed to developing a community that is safe, strong and cohesive.

“We have long recognised the importance of good communications, providing a range of opportunities to bring people together to ‘talk issues through’.

Through speaking and debating any concerns openly, we are able to work together towards solutions.

“This event has allowed young people to hear what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does as well as giving them an opportunity to discuss their concerns with a high-ranking diplomat.”

Sir Vincent has had a distinguished diplomatic career since joining the FCO in 1975. He has held numerous posts including that of First Secretary in Damascus and UK Representative for Brussels as well as serving as Counsellor for Paris from 1992-96. He was also the Director of Asia Pacific in the International Group of Trade Partners UK in 1999-2002 and High Commissioner in Valletta, Malta from 2002-06.

His most recent posting was as Ambassador to Libya, from May 2006 until leaving his post in May this year. He is currently awaiting the formal announcement of his new posting later this year.

For more information, or if you are interested in attending similar events in the future, contact Cath Falvey on 01293 438506 or email catherine.falvey@crawley.gov.uk

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 10:11 and is filed under News Bulletins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.