Kay Coombs OBE (born 8 July 1945) is a British diplomat. She was a member of the British diplomatic service and was UK ambassador to Honduras (2002–2003) and to Mongolia (1999–2001). Coombs was born on 8 July 1945. Her parents were Beatrice Mabel (née Angel) and William Tom Coombs. After taking a BA degree at the

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

, Coombs was employed by the UK government

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

in 1967. She was a member of several departments in London between working abroad at several embassies including in Bonn (1971–1973), Zagreb (1976–1979), La Paz (1982–1986), Rome (1987–1991) and Beijing (1995–1998). In 1975 Coombs was part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office team involved with the UK's engagement with global women's rights at the inaugural conference of the

United Nations Decade for Women The United Nations Decade for Women was a period from 1975 to 1985 focused on the policies and issues that impact women, such as pay equity, gendered violence, land holding, and other human rights. It was adopted December 15, 1975, by the United ...

. Her report after the conference on the need for longer preparation, closer consultation with UK

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s, dedicated staffing and a general higher priority for the area, indicated the beginning of change at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She was the UK's ambassador to Mongolia (1999 - 2001), based in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

, and then

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

(2002–2003), based in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

, following the retirement of the previous ambassador, David Osborne. The UK embassy in Honduras was closed from the end of her tenure until 2015. She became an honorary member of the

Queen's Messenger The Corps of King's Messengers (or Corps of Queen's Messengers during the reign of a female monarch) are couriers employed by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They hand-carry secret and important documents to Br ...

Corps in 2001. She was appointed an OBE in 2005. She has now retired.

References

Living people Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mongolia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Honduras 1945 births Alumni of Newcastle University British women ambassadors Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-diplomat-stub