A Baroness, Blairite shock, appointed to a key position at the United Nations
(BRUSSELS2) Baroness Amos has been appointed United Nations Under-Secretary General in charge of the coordination of Emergency Relief and Humanitarian Aid (OCHA). She replaces a compatriot, John Holmes, whose main task was to deal with the earthquake in Haiti, an unprecedented earthquake because it also decimated the relief and United Nations structures present on the Caribbean island.
Born in Guyana in Georgetown, in 1954, Valerie Amos was, until now, British commissioner in Australia but she is best known as one of the shock Blairites. A sociologist by training, she headed the British Equal Opportunities Commission from 1989 to 1994 before moving into the private sector. She became a member of Labor and in 1995 founded a cabinet Amos Fraser Bernard, which will be responsible in particular for advising the government of Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
Named peer of the kingdom in 1997 when Tony Blair came to power, she was the first black woman to enter the House of Lords. From 1998 to 2001, she held the position of Whip (parliamentary coordinator) in the chamber. In 2001, she was appointed parliamentary under-secretary for Africa under Tony Blair and in fact held the post of special envoy for Africa (she was missi-dominici in particular to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe between white settlers and Mugabe's power). In 2003, she entered the cabinet (still a first for a black woman), as Minister for International Development, replacing Claire Short (who slammed the door because of the British commitment in Iraq). Amos defends the military intervention in Iraq, trying to convince several African countries (like Angola or Cameroon) to participate. But she left this position very quickly (after six months) to take the helm of the House of Lords (its holder having died) for four years. On the arrival of Gordon Brown, she left the cabinet, giving up her post to ... Lady Ashton (the current High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs).
In 2007, Brown wants to propel her to Brussels, as EU Special Representative in Africa. But British diplomacy fails to impose its candidate. And the post finally falls to the Belgian Koen Vervaeke (former spokesman for Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, and above all "Africa" adviser to Javier Solana). She will eventually be appointed as British Commissioner to Australia. Very political appointment. During his hearing, one of his opponents, the Tory MP, John Horam, only noted his interest in cricket to qualify his appointment: "As far as I can see, you are uniquely unqualified for this job: you are not a career diplomat, you had no previous interest in this part of the world and you have never been elected but you are interested in cricket – that's good. "
Her international profile would have made her an ideal candidate for the head of European diplomacy in 2009. And it is surprising that no one thought of it...
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
(photo credit: FCO)
