Kate Foster is a British diplomat. In 2021 she became the United Kingdom's ambassador to Somalia. She is based at the British embassy in Mogadishu, but no consular services were offered there as of 2022.

Life

From 1999 to 2004 she was employed by private companies before she joined UNHCR working in Liberia and Sierra Leone supporting youth work with refugees. In 2006 she left to work for the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 19 ...

, and by 2011 she was working for the charity Save the Children where she was a Programme Director with an interest in South Sudan. She also worked for the International Rescue Committee across Africa. In 2014–15 she led the United Kingdom's response to the

Ebola outbreak This list of Ebola outbreaks records the known occurrences of Ebola virus disease, a highly infectious and acutely lethal viral disease that has afflicted humans and animals primarily in equatorial Africa. The pathogens responsible for the di ...

in Africa as their Director of Operations. She returned to work for the

Department for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

leading work in Africa and Yemen in particular. Foster became the British Ambassador to Somalia taking over from Ben Fender; the changeover was in February 2021 and the job was seen as "sensitive" given the disputes in the region. The UK has had a strong link to Somalia with £325 m. of funding budgeted between 2018 and 2022. She has been asked about the withdrawal of the

African Union Mission to Somalia The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was a regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations Security Council. It was mandated to support transitional governmental structures, imple ...

(AMISOM) as comparisons have been made with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Foster was the ambassador based in Mogadishu but there are no consular services. British nationals who needed this type of support in either Somalia or Somalialand were instructed to contact the British High Commission in Nairobi. At the end of 2021, she was having discussions with Galmudug President Ahmed Abdikadir Qoorqoor at a time when the national elections were delayed and the American government was threatening to retaliate against anyone who was preventing the country's transition to peace.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Kate Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Somalia British diplomats Officers of the Order of the British Empire