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Thomas Fletcher (diplomat)

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Thomas Fletcher
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Assumed office
9 October 2024
Appointed byAntónio Guterres
Preceded byMartin Griffiths
British Ambassador to Lebanon
In office
2011–2015
Preceded byFrances Guy
Succeeded byHugo Shorter
Personal details
Born (1975-03-27) 27 March 1975 (age 49)
NationalityBritish
Children2

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]

Early life and education

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.

Diplomatic career

Early roles

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]

Ambassador to Lebanon

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.

United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator

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]

Other work

Writing and broadcasting

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]

Academic and other roles

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]

Personal life

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.

References

  1. ^ a b c The Guardian, "Former foreign policy adviser to three UK PMs appointed as UN aid chief", 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b United Nations, "Mr. Tom Fletcher of the United Kingdom - Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator", 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b University of Oxford, Hertford College, "An Announcement from the Principal", 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  4. ^ "So…Yalla, Bye". blogs.fco.gov.uk.
  5. ^ Meyer, Christopher (6 August 2015). "How to step down as an ambassador - with style" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Tom Fletcher". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Kenya's undiplomatic big fight". 14 June 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. ^ Brown, Gordon (2017). My Life, Our Times. ISBN 978-1847924971.
  9. ^ "For the Record". www.amazon.com. 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Dear Lebanon: An Open Letter". November 2013.
  11. ^ "So…Yalla, Bye". July 2015.
  12. ^ "On Her Majesty's Service - in a new way". 25 August 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  13. ^ "UK-Lebanon Technology Hub". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  14. ^ Watt, Holly (30 November 2014). "Secret British role in halting Isil 'massacre' in Lebanon". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  15. ^ Wood, Paul (1 December 2014). "The UK's £20m IS fight in Lebanon". BBC News. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Fletcher unveils U.K.-Lebanon technology hub". www.dailystar.com.lb. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  17. ^ "How is the UK helping to accelerate Lebanese tech startups?". 19 October 2018.
  18. ^ "British Ambassador Tom Fletcher Donated Blood to the Jnah Explosion Victims". 20 November 2013.
  19. ^ "'Naked Diplomat' author Tom Fletcher bares all on life as UK ambassador to Lebanon". Arab News. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  20. ^ Meyer, Christopher (6 August 2015). "How to step down as an ambassador - with style". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  21. ^ https://www.lovieawards.eu/features/top-moments-at-the-5th-annual-lovie-awards/ [dead link]
  22. ^ Fletcher, Tom (23 March 2017). The naked diplomat : understanding power and politics in the digital age (William Collins paperback ed.). London. ISBN 9780008127589. OCLC 953438948.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ Boyes, Roger (11 June 2016). "Naked Diplomacy: Power and Statecraft in the Digital Age by Tom Fletcher". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Naked Diplomacy by Tom Fletcher review – international relations for the digital age". TheGuardian.com. 13 June 2016.
  25. ^ "United Networks". unitednetworks.ae.
  26. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Battle for Liberal Democracy". BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  27. ^ Dhabi, NYU Abu. "Thomas Fletcher". New York University Abu Dhabi.
  28. ^ "British diplomat appointed as senior adviser at Emirates Diplomatic Academy". The National. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  29. ^ "Mr Thomas Fletcher". Hertford College | University of Oxford. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  30. ^ "Tom Fletcher CMG elected as Principal". Hertford College | University of Oxford. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  31. ^ "We need a learning revolution - Towards Global Learning Goals". Global Learning Goals. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  32. ^ "Council - Creative Industries Federation". www.creativeindustriesfederation.com.
  33. ^ "Tom Fletcher".
  34. ^ Fisher, Lucy. "Dream Big Kid, and give Carla a call". The Times.
  35. ^ "JLA / Video from Tom Fletcher".
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister
2007–2011
Succeeded by
John Casson
Preceded by Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon
2011–2015
Succeeded by
Hugo Shorter
Academic offices
Preceded by Principal of Hertford College, Oxford
2020–
Incumbent
Positions in intergovernmental organisations
Preceded by Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
2024–present
Succeeded by
Incumbent