Brussels Forum Session: The Odesa Debate Part II: The World’s Largest Construction Project: Laying the Foundation at the London Conference
Danae Dholakia is the senior responsible owner (SRO) and United Kingdom Envoy for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023. From October 2018 until the end of 2022, she was minister-counsellor, global challenges at the British Embassy in Beijing. While there, she covered engagement with China on energy and climate change, health, science, and technology, research and innovation, and aspects of regulatory diplomacy.
Prior to that, Dholakia served as special envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes Region and was political counsellor in Pretoria. She was also head of the Southern and Central Africa Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Before taking up her roles in Africa, Dholakia served for four years as the FCDO deputy director covering Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
During her 20-year FCDO career, Dholakia has also worked as deputy director on counter-terrorism issues in the Home Office, on NATO, on the EU in Brussels, and on UN issues. Before joining the FCDO, she worked in the NGO sector in Eastern and Central Africa for seven years.
Dholakia received a bachelor’s degree in environmental science at Lancaster University and a master’s degree in the same field from Brunel University London.