What do British diplomats in Europe do all day?

Here is a fine example of the Embassy in Warsaw taking an idea (in this case advancing the prospects for disabled people in Poland as part of an EU-wide move in this area), then finding senior Polish partners and moving things forward together.

The leading role here was played by Jane Cordell, possibly the first ever substantively deaf diplomat posted by the FCO (or any other Foreign Ministry?) to a senior overseas position:

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Jane’s main effort in the Embassy has been coordinating with Polish Ministries on foreign policy and security issues (Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia/Ukraine/Georgia and so on). She was able to do this to a high level of effectiveness in good part because she herself speaks Polish.

But as well as that, we together faced the Question – should Jane also take on some sort of Disability portfolio with Polish interlocutors, building on her pioneering example in the FCO?

Not a straightforward issue  – insofar as part of the point of her posting to Warsaw was for her do a substantive policy job with some special arrangements made for her deafness, it was not necessarily fair or even desirable that she be somehow ‘marketed’ more widely as a disability role model.

On the other hand, someone has to be a pioneer. And Jane cheerfully agreed to be one.

With the excellent high-profile results including in the Polish Parliament as described in the link, and her media work in Polish withal:

On 26 August I was invited by the Polish parliament to attend its opening ceremony and a follow-up conference. Unlike its UK counterpart, which involves some impressive pomp and circumstance, the Polish opening is usually short and low-key, involving reading out a list of planned legislative changes. But this was no ordinary occasion.

During the summer recess, architects, conservationists, builders and a small group of MPs had been hard at work transforming areas of the building to make them accessible. Rather than reading out legislation, Speaker Komorowski welcomed everyone to a Sejm which was accessible for the first time in its history.

He then invited three wheelchair-using MPs onto the speaker’s platform to address the gathering. Had he done this three months ago, they could not have responded, as steps lead up to the platform, but on this day the MPs glided along a newly-installed reinforced glass ‘walkway’ and spoke there for the first time.

On 26 August I was asked to speak at the conference alongside the Sejm speaker, and MPs, about how Poland can achieve full access, using the UK example. I felt, as usual, what an honour, and also responsibility this was. To do this well – as any public speaker in a foreign language knows – requires hard work. But there can be few other situations which offer such an opportunity to have a positive influence.

I admit to feeling no small amount of pride as I watched the MPs zoom onto the speakers’ platform for the first time at the opening ceremony, contemplating the small but important part the Embassy had played in getting them there.

Not so small, Jane.

Great job.