Diplomats & Ambassadors
Valerie Amos @ValerieAmos
Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Amos is responsible for coordinating the UN’s operations across the globe. She uses her Twitter to express her concern over the
on-going challenges faced by humanitarian aid workers in conflict settings.
Carl Bildt @carlbildt
Former Prime Minister of Sweden and current Foreign Minister, Bildt has held various UN posts and is one of the most savvy digital diplomats. Bildt understands Twitter’s power to connect and disseminate information like no other social media tool. His feed regularly touches upon atrocities and protection problems, offering all who follow him a unique Scandinavian perspective on the world.
Helen Clark @HelenClarkUNDP
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and current Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Clark tweets about her daily work and own opinion about the plights of civilians in conflict-ridden countries. Recently she has been on the ground in South Sudan and has become an important reminder than the UNDP remains an important actor in shoring up fragile states.
Lyall Grant @LyallGrant
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, Grant is one of the few diplomats who tweets regularly from high level UN debates, conferences and Security Council meetings. London has been at the forefront of digital diplomacy, which is reflected in Grant’s Twitter feed.
William Hague @WilliamJHague
British Foreign Secretary, Hague is the United Kingdom’s top diplomat. He tweets about many international issues but his feed is constantly churning out information related to crises in the Middle East, including Syria, as well as sexual violence in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Toby Lanzer @tobylanzer
UN Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, Lanzer has worked in numerous humanitarian operations over the past two decades. He is on this list because of his live-tweeting the current crisis in South Sudan and for showing leadership in protecting civilians.
Karel van Oosterom @KvanOosterom
Permanent Representative to the UN for The Netherlands, Oosterom’s very active account provides pictures and real-time information on UN debates and consultations on conflict and peacebuilding, governance, and security. Oosterom and his country are key supporters of the Responsibility to Protect. Other diplomats need to emulate his use of Twitter.
Geir O. Pedersen @GeirOPedersen
Ambassador and Representative of Norway to the UN, Pedersen is another must follow diplomat. Pedersen’s account details Norway’s initiatives to protect human rights, from support to the African Union to high level political meetings in South Sudan.
Samantha Power @AmbassadorPower
U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and author of the book “A Problem from Hell”, Power is a leading voice online advocating stronger measures to protect civilians from mass atrocities. Having just recently joined Twitter, her feed offers a balanced mix of her diplomatic work and her more personal, outspoken opinion on what should be done to help vulnerable populations and who should be publically named and shamed.
Ambassador Stephen J. Rapp @StateDept_GCJ
US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, Rapp served as Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and as Senior Trial Attorney and Chief of Prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Particularly attentive to issues of accountability, you will want to check out his tweets on how international law can be used to end impunity.