Melanie Smart: for the UK’s new Acting CG in Kurdistan, diplomacy is about people

Melanie Smart has done most jobs one can do in an embassy and has now stepped up into the role of the UK Acting Consul-General in Erbil after the departure of James Thornton this weekend.
British diplomat Melanie Smart became Acting UK Consul-General in the Kurdistan Region in July 2021. (Photo: UK Consulate Erbil)
British diplomat Melanie Smart became Acting UK Consul-General in the Kurdistan Region in July 2021. (Photo: UK Consulate Erbil)

Acting Consul-General Melanie Smart has big plans for the next few months. Over more than 20 years in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, she has done tours in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Costa Rica, serving as the Chargé d’Affaires at the British Embassy in San Jose where she helped introduce a direct flight from London (“That’s something that was mentioned to me before coming out here,” she quips about the Kurdish capital). Smart has done most jobs one can do in an embassy and has now stepped up into the role of Acting Consul-General in Erbil after the departure of James Thornton this weekend.

Over the course of his tenure, Thornton became Twitter-famous in some Kurdish circles for his ventures into the countryside and for his off- and online engagement. As his deputy, Smart was involved in many of those meetings, and says she “really loves” the Kurdish people and how welcoming the Kurdistan Region has been to her.

“I’d very much like to be known as somebody who listens to people,” Smart told Kurdistan 24 in an interview on Thursday.

Her own Twitter account has photos of the requisite meetings with the Kurdistan Region’s top officials and at important historical commemorations and cultural events, but also features Smart at a women’s shelter in Erbil and speaking at the High Council of Women’s Affairs.

Smart has already been in the Kurdish capital for two years, a relative rarity in Erbil, where some missions rotate diplomats every 12 months. She committed early to staying to provide continuity at the consulate, especially for members of the country-based team, some who have served for nearly a decade and a half. Those staff provide essential institutional memory for diplomats, especially in their understanding of the history of the region and government.

She stressed that the British role in Kurdistan is not to be prescriptive – that is, telling the Kurdistan Regional Government or Kurdish people what to do – but to support their efforts.

“Diplomacy only works if you take people along with you,” she said.

“Having been here two years myself already, it’s an honor for me to be asked by London to step up into the Acting Consul-General’s position for the next few months, and it gives me and the team the opportunity to solidify some of the things we have already been doing, and taking forward some of the objectives.”

One area is supporting civil society and democratic institutions. “An open and free press is an essential ingredient for democracy, and the UK is first and foremost in a democratic way supporting freedom of expression and freedom of the media as part of our baseline diplomacy,” Smart said.

The UK is also continuing to support judicial training in the Kurdistan Region, as well as other reforms identified by the government.

Another focus is developing the Knowledge Exchange between the UK and the Kurdistan Region, as British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab mentioned during his first trip to Erbil last month.

“That’s around people,” Smart said. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department of Trade, and others will work with the Kurdish government to support development in trade, investment, and digital diplomacy, which Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s cabinet has identified as important areas for reform.

“They want to upscale, so it’s about supporting them in a way where we can share our knowledge,” Smart said. “I’m really excited about this because the UK have been held up in the past as sort of the Rolls Royce of the diplomatic service.”

“I’m particularly proud of that, and I’m proud that the government here want to learn from us and they recognize that our skills are sometimes second to none.”

“It’s about linking the experts from here to the experts in the UK.”

With Smart, Kurds can expect a personal touch, and that she will endeavor to keep her word to people. 

For example, during one visit to Duhok, Smart was able to spend some time at the Yezidi survivors’ center.

“Unfortunately because of the time frame of other meetings, I felt I didn’t get enough time there so I promised at the end of that meeting that I would go back and I would dedicate myself three or four hours to be there and to understand what the real issues were,” she said.

She went back, taking not only a consulate officer who works on women’s empowerment, but also an official from Baghdad, “because at that point we were looking at what project funding we had.”

“Let me talk to real people”

Smart now has the chance to harness some of the friendships she’s made over the last two years to see how institutions can better support the Kurdish people.

Women’s empowerment was already a focus of her time as deputy consul-general. “I wanted to own that subject. It’s very close to my heart,” she said.

Having raised four (“very independent”) daughters on her own while climbing the diplomatic ladder on three continents, she wants to show young Kurdish women that it is possible to have both a family and a career.

“I want to harness that power here. I hope to impart that knowledge – and have done on various occasions – to empower young girls here.”

To that end, she wants to ensure the High Council of Women’s Affairs is given the power and budget it needs to continue work into the future and to see the KRG’s Action Plan (part of the National Action Plan) move into implementation, now that it has been approved by the Prime Minister. And while amendments to domestic violence legislation are pending, Smart feels she can make a real impact on the ground by supporting protection for women.

“Shelters is another area where I want to add my voice during my time as Acting Consul-General,” she said. “That will be an area that I will be looking at what we can do to support – whether that’s physical, financial, or advocating for the shelters to have a bigger budget.” She wants to visit the shelters in person to get a better idea of their needs.

“I’m very much a people person,” Smart explained. “When I’m given a piece of information, I’ll always want to check it out. What does that actually mean? Let me talk to real people.”

During that visit to the Yezidi survivors’ center in Duhok, Smart said she wanted to understand what the issues were to make sure that project funding was being used for what people needed, not what the UK thought they needed.

“I think it’s really important for people like me to use my voice to advocate for some of the more sticky things that take time,” she explained, such as supporting early education on religious or gender differences.

The consulate is also supporting programs around the Yezidi survivors’ law, which passed earlier this year. Out of the trip to Duhok was born a project to focus on “making sure that people understand what’s available and how they can get access to it,” Smart said.

They will also run workshops alongside local NGOs that cover ethnic minorities, who are also included in the law.

Mental health, still a taboo for many people, is another area where Smart feels she can make an impact as Acting Consul-General.

“There’s a mental health center in Duhok, and we’re looking to support that,” with projects and even providing additional psychotherapists when there is a shortage, she said.

“That’s the way that we want to influence things here a bit more, [showing that] mental health is an important part of your wellbeing, and dealing with these issues that you’ve been through is the way to your better future.”

Peshmerga Support and Preparing for Iraq’s Election

Smart will also take up the responsibility of continuing the UK’s 30-year commitment to the Kurdistan Region’s security, including the essential unification of its military forces. UK support is a major factor in the ongoing reform of the Peshmerga, and has committed a full colonel – a senior position within the British Army – to the reform program. There is also a separate team within the consulate focused solely on defense matters.

“During my tenure as Acting Consul-General we will be looking at supporting the Ministry of Peshmerga in how they are aligned to the forces coming underneath them. It’s about us supporting the Kurdish government, not leading them.”

The UK strongly supported the recent relocation of some major Peshmerga brigades under the umbrella of the Ministry of Peshmerga, and Smart says that support will continue.

One of the most pressing issues is Iraq’s parliamentary elections, currently scheduled for Oct. 10. The elections are the first since Mustafa al-Kadhimi became the Iraqi prime minister in May 2020 following months of protests and political jockeying.

The UN Security Council, of which the UK is a permanent member, earlier this year reauthorized the UN Iraq Assistance Mission for another year with a mandate to monitor the vote, and Smart said the UK was a “key lead behind that process.”

“It’s an opportunity for there to be a free and fair election across Iraq,” Smart said. “That’s something that we want to ensure happens.”

If the vote goes ahead it will be held against the backdrop of serious security concerns: militias have increased attacks in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region over the last few years, including one that killed a British soldier. 

The UK is serious about supporting a strong security foundation around the election, Smart said.

“We would not want to see militia forces taking over the region and using Iraq in general as a platform to take up their own agendas,” she explained. “The coalition have the right to defend themselves when they are attacked, but we wouldn’t want any actor to be escalating the tensions across the region.”