For our first Policy & Practice seminar of academic year 2024-2025 we were joined by ex-Ambassador Simona Leskovar. The ex-Ambassador talked about her own experience both in trying to get Slovenia elected to the UN Security Council, but also more broadly about her experience in the UK and within the UN. The talk included a discussion as to why small states matter in international security. We are delighted that Sir Mark Lyall Grant  GCMG  joined us to give a response. <h3>Meet the speakers</h3>ex-Ambassador Simona Leskovar Simona Leskovar is Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the Court of St James's until August 2024. Prior to this appointment, she was State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. Ambassador Leskovar is a career diplomat for 28 years of service in Slovenian diplomacy. She served as Slovenian Ambassador to Japan and Republic of Korea, was Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovenia at Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations in New York and member or head of several Slovenian delegations and missions to various conferences and events within the UN. Her first post as a diplomat was Washington DC.   Ambassador Leskovar holds a position of the EU adviser to Slovenian Foreign Minister during the first Slovenian EU presidency in 2008. She was later Director of Young Bled Strategic Forum and the national Focal Point for Responsibility-to-Protect. Simona Leskovar studied international relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, and at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael in The Hague. Ambassador Leskovar initiated the MFA programme 'Young Ambassadors', a mentoring project that was organized together with foreign female Ambassadors in Slovenia, and aimed at encouraging young women to consider a career in diplomacy and international relations. Ambassador Leskovar was appointed Program Director of Bled Strategic Forum at the end of August 2024. Sir Mark Lyall Grant  GCMG Sir Mark Lyall Grant served as the United Kingdom’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN from 2009 to 2015. During this tenure, he served as President of the Security Council four times. He subsequently served as a National Security Adviser during David Cameron and Theresa May’s premierships. Following his retirement from the civil service, he is now a Visiting Professor at King's College London and a strategic advisor. Chair: <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/political-science/people/academic-teaching-and-research-staff/dr-veronika-fikfak">Prof. Veronika Fikfak</a>is Professor of Human Rights and International Law in the UCL Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy.

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