Jon Benjamin (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Jon Benjamin is the current British Ambassador to Chile and a former Head of Human Rights at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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, Buckinghamshire, attending Slough Grammar School
. He read German and Swedish at the University of Surrey
.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
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Background and education
Jon Benjamin was brought up in Farnham CommonFarnham Common
Farnham Common is a village in the parish of Farnham Royal, in Buckinghamshire, England, about 3 miles north of the town of Slough, on the A355 road between Slough and Beaconsfield. It is to the north of the village of Farnham Royal, and adjoins the woodland of Burnham Beeches.Lois Allan invented...
, Buckinghamshire, attending Slough Grammar School
Slough Grammar School
The school is a Language College, a Science College, a Leading Edge School, an ICT-Focus School, a Training School, an International School under the International Baccalaureate Organization and a participant in the Primary Language Initiative. From September 2004 it has offered some International...
. He read German and Swedish at the University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
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Diplomatic career
- 1986: Desk Officer for Pakistan
- 1986 – 1987: Desk Officer for Burma and Laos, South East Asian Department
- 1988 – 1991: Jakarta, Third, later Second Secretary (Political)
- 1992 – 1993: Head of Section for Central Asia and the Caucasus, Eastern Department
- 1993 – 1995: Chief-of-staff to Minister of State responsible for EU/Europe and Latin America
- 1996 – 1999: AnkaraAnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, First Secretary, Head of Political and Public Affairs Section - 2000: Head of ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
Emergency Unit - 2000 – 2002: Deputy Head, Drugs and International Crime Department
- 2002 – 2005: Head of Human RightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
Policy Department - 2005: Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Counsellor (Counter-terrorism and Human Rights) - 2005 – 2008: New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Deputy Consul General & Deputy Head of Mission,subsequently Acting Consul General - 2008 – 2009: New York, Secondment to Eurasia Group (political risk consultancy), Adviser to the president