Date of Entry: September 6, 1995

National Holiday: 21 April (Queen’s Birthday)

Capital: London

Type of Government: Constitutional Monarchy and Commonwealth Realm

Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II (since 6 February 1952)

Head of Government: Prime Minster Thresa May (since July 11, 2016)

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Boris Johnson (July 13, 2016)

Permanent Observer: Sir Nigel Kim Darroch (January 28, 2016)

ECONOMIC INDICATORS / 2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016
Population (in millions) / 62.76 / 63.25 / 63.70 / 64.12 / 64.61 / 65.12 / 65.63
GDP (US$ in trillions) / 2.43 / 2.60 / 2.64 / 2.72 / 2.99 / 2.86 / 2.61
GDP per capita (US$) / 38,709.9 / 41,240.4 / 41,538.3 / 42,407.3 / 46,412.1 / 43,929.6 / 39,899.3

Source: www.tradingeconomics.com | The World Bank Group

FOREIGN RELATIONS POLICIES:

§  The United Kingdom’s foreign relations policy focuses on promoting human rights, supporting the global efforts to safeguard Britain’s National Security and contributing to the welfare of developing countries and their citizens.

§  For 2014-2015, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has established three priority areas:

o  Security: Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, the Middle East, Russia, Africa as well as international security and conflict events such as the Wales NATO Summit.

o  Prosperity: Asia Pacific region, the EU, energy and climate and economic diplomacy.

o  Consular services to British nationals at international events.

§  The FCO also manages a Strategic Program Fund that promotes action on global issues, including the Arab Partnership, commercial diplomacy, counter proliferation, counter terrorism, human rights, prosperity, bilateral programs and overseas territories.

§  The HMG Conflict Fund covers conflict prevention work and the United Kingdom’s contributions to peacekeeping missions.

§  The FCO also has an Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund that address natural resource management and a Science and Innovation Network to promote prosperity and growth.

§  The United Kingdom is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a Member State of the European Union, and a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Commonwealth of Nations.

INVOLVEMENT WITH THE AMERICAS:

§  The United Kingdom maintains embassies in 18 countries of the Americas: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States of America and Venezuela; as well as High Commissions in six countries: Barbados, Belize, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID):

§  The DFID is responsible for implementing the United Kingdom’s work to end extreme poverty. The Department works directly in 28 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and carries out regional programs in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

§  Actions are focused on achieving the Millennium Development Goals, promoting international development in fragile and conflict-affected countries, and improving education and greater choice on family planning, as well as preventing violence against girls and women, and preventing climate change and low-carbon growth in developing countries.

§  Priorities by 2015 include: education, health, economic growth and the private sector, governance and conflict, climate and environment, water and sanitation.

COOPERATION AGREEMENTS WITH THE OAS:

§  Grant Contract between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the General Secretariat of the OAS, through which the United Kingdom provides up to £100,000 to the project “Strengthening Cyber Security in the Americas (Caribbean sub region), implemented by the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism / Secretariat for Multidimensional Security from April 2014 to March 2015. Signed May 27, 2014.

§  Memorandum of Understanding of the Disbursement of Funding for Belize/Guatemala, signed on March 24, 2010, implemented by the Secretariat for Political Affairs / Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM), fund established to handle fees related to the arbitration of the Belize/Guatemala border dispute before the International Court of Justice. This agreement was signed for a period of three years and for a total amount of £286,000.

§  Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the British Embassy in Bogotá and General Secretariat of the OAS, to support the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights / Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression program: Stronger Inter-American Human Rights System: Increased Monitoring to Freedom of Information Standards. This agreement was signed for the period of August 2009 to March 2011 for a total amount of £210,000.

CASH CONTRIBUTIONS 1999-2016:

YEAR / UNITED KINGDOM / P.O. FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS / %
1999 / $82,000.00 / $8,015,935.00 / 1.02%
2000 / $530,498.00 / $9,515,678.00 / 5.57%
2001 / $496,000.00 / $6,923,000.00 / 7.16%
2002 / $425,528.00 / $8,460,084.00 / 5.03%
2003 / $794,700.00 / $12,125,944.00 / 6.55%
2004 / $405,056.00 / $11,908,651.00 / 3.40%
2005 / $492,140.00 / $11,650,039.00 / 4.22%
2006 / $241,900.00 / $19,060,470.00 / 1.27%
2007 / $137,424.00 / $20,398,686.00 / 0.67%
2008 / $277,164.00 / $22,684,500.00 / 1.22%
2009 / $376,212.00 / $20,318,115.00 / 1.85%
2010 / $537,926.00 / $15,781,991.00 / 3.41%
2011 / $4,985.00 / $15,692,757.00 / 0.03%
2012 / $46,684.00 / $13,239,105.00 / 0.35%
2013 / $280,107.00 / $16,926,686.00 / 1.65%
2014 / $214,507.94 / $10,999,892.00 / 1.95%
2015 / $1,679,969.50 / $17,489,205.00 / 9.61%
2016 / $2,710,737.00 / $14,048,254.00 / 19.30%
Total US$ / $9,733,538.44 / $255,238,992.00 / 3.81%

UNITED KINGDOM CONTRIBUTIONS:

YEAR / PROJECTS / FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
IN US$ / IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS
IN US$
1999 / Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Electoral Observation Mission / $2,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Training / $40,000.00
OAS/UN Mission to Haiti / $40,000.00
SUBTOTAL / $82,000.00
2000 / Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) / $513,236.00
Office of the General Secretariat- Belize/Guatemala / $17,262.00
SUBTOTAL / $530,498.00
2001 / Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Electoral technical assistance, Caribbean / $35,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Electoral Observation Mission, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / $20,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Electoral Observation Mission, Haiti / $12,000.00
Electoral Observation Mission, Nicaragua / $10,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Electoral Observation Mission, Peru / $38,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Constitutional Reform, Caribbean / $30,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Demining Project / $272,000.00
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)- Seminar in Caribbean / $24,000.00
Peace Fund / $55,000.00
SUBTOTAL / $496,000.00
2002 / Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Technical Assistance, Caribbean / $23,250.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Electoral Observation Mission, Colombia 2002 / $21,900.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Demining Program / $276,602.00
Special Mission in Haiti / $14,268.00
Inter-American Committee on Terrorism (CICTE) / $14,268.00
Peace Fund- Belize/Guatemala Sub-fund / $75,240.00
SUBTOTAL / $425,528.00
2003 / Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) / $50,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Seminar on Political Dialogue- Andean Region (Peru) / $18,000.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Electoral Observation Mission, Guatemala 2003 / $24,123.00
Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) - Demining Program / $308,042.00
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)- Project in Colombia / $158,210.00
Office of the Assistant Secretary General- Peace Fund- Sub-fund Belize/Guatemala / $236,325.00
SUBTOTAL / $794,700.00
2004 / Office of the Assistant Secretary General- Peace Fund- Sub-fund Belize/Guatemala / $125,710.00
CICAD / $181,600.00
Office of Sustainable Development / $53,496.00
Department of Democratic and Political and Affairs / $44,250.00
SUBTOTAL / $405,056.00
2005 / Secretariat for Political Affairs (SPA) - Department of Democratic and Political Affairs- Peace Fund- Belize/Guatemala Sub-fund / $492,140.00
SUBTOTAL / $492,140.00
2006 / Secretariat for Political Affairs (SPA)- Crisis Prevention and Specialized Missions- Belize/Guatemala / $137,800.00
Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) - Promotion of Democracy MOE 2006 Guyana / $94,600.00
Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) - Promotion of Democracy MOE 2006 Saint Lucia / $9,500.00
SUBTOTAL / $241,900.00
2007 / Department of Crisis Prevention and Specialized Missions – Fund for Peace – Sub-fund Belize-Guatemala Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions – Santa Rosa Project / $137,424.00
SUBTOTAL / $137,424.00
2008 / Department of Sustainable Democracy and Special Missions (DSDSM) - Fund for Peace – Office of the General Secretariat in the Adjacency Zone between Belize and Guatemala / $198,910.00
Department of Sustainable Democracy and Special Missions (DSDSM)– Belize-Guatemala Sub-Fund of the Peace Fund / $78,254.00
SUBTOTAL / $277,164.00
2009 / Department of Sustainable Democracy and Special Missions (DSDSM)- Belize/Guatemala ICJ Legal Fees Fund / $284,740.00
Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) - Electoral Observation Mission to Antigua and Barbuda / $28,474.00
Peace Fund – Prevention of Conflicts Belize-Guatemala Adjacency Zone / $35,593.00
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) - Access to Information / $27,405.00
SUBTOTAL / $376,212.00
2010 / Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM)- Adjacency Zone Office in Belize/Guatemala / $152,530.00
Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM) – Sub-fund of the Peace Fund for Belize/Guatemala ICJ legal fees / $131,176.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – OAS Electoral Observation Mission to St. Kitts and Nevis / $11,248.00
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) – Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression – Access to Information / $125,193.00
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) – Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression – Access to Information / $117,779.00
Executive Secretariat for integral Development / Department of Human Development, Education and Culture – Course: The New Economic Powers: Brazil, Russia, India and China –2 scholarships / $2,018.00
SUBTOTAL / $537,926.00 / $2,018.00
2011 / Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM)- Adjacency Zone Office in Belize/Guatemala / $4,985.00
SUBTOTAL / $4,985.00
2012 / Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM)- Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP) / $30,443.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – OAS Electoral Observation Mission to Guyana 2011 / $3,841.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – OAS Electoral Observation Mission to St. Lucia 2011 / $6,400.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – OAS Electoral Observation Mission to Belize 2012 / $6,000.00
SUBTOTAL / $46,684.00
2013 / Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM)- Adjacency Zone Belize/Guatemala / $95,126.80
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) – Rights of LGBTI persons within the framework of the Strategic Plan 2011-2015 / $59,908.00
Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM) – Mission To Support Political Dialogue In Paraguay / $48,157.00
Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM)- Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP) / $29,410.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – OAS Electoral Observation Mission to Grenada (2013) / $22,515.00
Department for Public Security / Secretariat for Multidimensional Security - Music for Social Change through the British Embassy in San Salvador / $24,990.00
Department of Human Development, Education and Employment - 1 Scholarship Awarded with the Support of the University of Manchester| PAEC-Academic / $40,009.00
SUBTOTAL / $280,106.80 / $40,009.00
2014 / Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions (DSDSM)- Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP) / $66,494.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – Electoral Observation Mission for the General Elections in Antigua and Barbuda / $20,000.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – Electoral Observation Mission in Bolivia October 2014 (in-kind contribution of one observer) / $3,188.00
Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) - Strengthening Cyber Security in the Americas (Caribbean sub region) / $128,013.94
SUBTOTAL / $214,507.94 / $3,188.00
2015 / Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – Electoral Observation Mission for the General Elections in Suriname, May 25, 2015 / $15,466.00
Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) - Strengthening Cyber Security in the Americas (Caribbean sub region; Development in Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia) / $117,076.00
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – Electoral Observation Mission for the General Elections in Saint Kitts & Nevis, February 16, 2015 / $10,461.50
Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) – Electoral Observation Mission for the General and Regional Elections in Guyana, May 11, 2015 / $15,466.00
Mission to Support to Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP) / $1,521,500.00
SUBTOTAL / $1,679,969.50 / $0.00
2016 / The Secretariat of the Inter‐American Committee against Terrorism CICTE (84D), Cyber Security / $49,175
The Secretariat of the Inter‐American Committee against Terrorism CICTE (84D), Cyber Security / $23,003
The Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (64C)
EOM 2015 Jamaica / $14,210
The Secretariat of the Inter‐American Committee against Terrorism CICTE (84D), Cyber Security / $45,366
The Secretariat of the Inter‐American Committee against Terrorism CICTE (84D), Cyber Security / $25,218
The Secretariat of the Inter‐American Committee against Terrorism CICTE (84D), Cyber Security / $22,926
The Department of Sustainable Democracy and Special Missions (64D),
POA 2012 MAPP‐OEA Basket Fund / $2,530,840
SUBTOTAL / $2,710,737 / $0
TOTAL / $9,733,538.44 / $45,215.00

SOURCES:

UK GOVERNMENT WEBSITE
https://www.gov.uk/
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE OF THE UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-office / DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE UK
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/

This page was last updated on July 5, 2017.