Matthew Hedges, who was until recently Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Paraguay, will take the reigns as Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s Regional Director for Asia and the Americas in September 2020. He will be responsible for the strategy, programming and team management across both regions. 

Matthew joins Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) following two decades as a British diplomat. Before serving as Ambassador to Paraguay, he was Deputy Ambassador to Myanmar. He has also worked in India, Japan, Morocco, Iraq,Turks and Caicos, and at the UK Mission to the UN in New York. 

Matthew also spent two years as a senior clerk in the House of Commons, working with the International Development Select Committee. He holds a master’s degree in public policy (MPP) in International Relations from Princeton University. 

Commenting on his appointment, Matthew Hedges said:

“I am delighted to be joining Westminster Foundation for Democracy at a time when we have the opportunity to re-think the world we live in and to put democracy and rights at the heart of how we ‘build back better’. I worked for several years in both Asia and the Americas, so I am especially excited to get back to work in these important regions.”

Chief Executive of Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Anthony Smith CMG, said:

“I look forward to welcoming Matthew into the WFD family.  His leadership skills and experience inside the UK government will be important as we respond to the urgent need for more inclusive, transparent and accountable democratic governance in our partner countries.”

Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is the UK public body dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world. WFD currently has offices in 10 countries in Asia and the Americas, working with parliaments, civil society, and political parties to help make democracies more inclusive and accountable.

Examples of our programmes in Asia include providing training to first-time women MPs elected in late 2017 in Nepal, to help them overcome the additional challenges they face due to gender bias and supporting the Fundamental Rights Committee of Myanmar’s Hluttaw (parliament) to investigate fishery workers rights and consider potential policy solutions to improve them.