The UK appoints female High Commissioner to Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: For the first time, the United Kingdom appointed the female British High Commissioner to Pakistan.
Jane Marriott, UK’s High Commissioner to Pakistan will take charge in July this year.
Earlier, from Sept 2019 to June 2023 Jane Marriott served in Kenya as the UK’s High Commissioner. In this role, Jane Marriott delivered a new UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership.
File photo of Jane Marriott, UK’s High Commissioner to Pakistan.
She also strengthened bilateral ties across mutual prosperity, sustainable development, security, and people-to-people links, and tackled climate change.
The British High Commission in Islamabad announced this in a statement issued on Thursday.
Under Jane’s leadership, the UK’s High Commission oversaw the launch of new green and sustainable energy projects. She also played a vital role in motivating UK-Kenyan cooperation to create the first-ever Kenyan Marine Commando Unit. It underlined the UK’s commitment to the fight against terrorism in Kenya and the region.
Jane also supported the restoration of over 1,000 hectares of deforested land, and under her leadership, the UK established a ‘Digital Access Programme’ in partnership with Kenyan stakeholders in the tech industry to train users on digital inclusion, cyber hygiene, and the regulation of online content.
The statement noted that Jane brings a wealth of thematic and regional experience to her new role having joined the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in 2001, following roles in the Cabinet Office and Home Office.
She has previously served as Director of the UK’s Joint International Counter-Terrorism Unit; Joint FCDO Director for the Middle East and North Africa; Ambassador to Sana’a, Yemen (2013-15); Deputy and Acting Ambassador to Tehran; and as an adviser to the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. She has also completed two diplomatic postings to Iraq and one to Afghanistan.
“I am incredibly excited to be appointed as the next British High Commissioner to Pakistan – a country I am delighted to have visited twice before,” Jane said following the announcement of her appointment.
“I am looking forward to getting to know this culturally rich and deeply diverse country even better. The United Kingdom’s relationship with Pakistan is rooted in shared history. Our people-to-people ties bind our countries together in common partnership, which I will be aiming to strengthen further,” she remarked.
