Sonia Farrey has formally assumed her demanding new post as the United Kingdom’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). This significant diplomatic appointment, announced by the British Foreign Office, sees Farrey succeed Corinne Kitsell. She presented her credentials to Monica Juma, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV), earlier today.
Furthermore, this seasoned diplomat now serves as the principal UK Ambassador Vienna, also becoming the British governor to the IAEA Board of Governors. In this dual capacity, she will represent UK interests on highly sensitive international issues. These include monitoring nuclear safety standards, particularly in regions like Ukraine, and overseeing multilateral security guarantees and arms control agreements.
Farrey’s career trajectory highlights her as an experienced crisis manager. She began her service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2001. Over two decades, Farrey, originally from Durham, held various strategic and operational roles. She gained crucial firsthand experience in conflict zones as Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, from 2006 to 2007. Later, she served as a reconciliation adviser in Baghdad, Iraq, between 2008 and 2009.
Subsequently, back in London, Farrey managed key security portfolios. She worked in the Counterterrorism Department from 2009 to 2010. She also served as Deputy Head of the Somalia Unit and Deputy Head of the Security Policy Department from 2012 to 2014. Her expertise extends to the multilateral stage as well.
From 2017 to 2018, Farrey headed the European Counter-Terrorism and Extremism Prevention Network (CTEN) in Brussels. Additionally, she was a Political Counselor at the British Mission to the UN in New York between 2020 and 2021. Outside government, she also directed advocacy and policy for UNICEF UK from 2018 to 2019. Most recently, from 2022 to 2025, she acted as Deputy Director of the Gender and Children in Conflict Division at the FCDO.
Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the London School of Economics (LSE). She also holds a Master of Studies in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, completed in 2015. In Vienna, Sonia Farrey faces complex challenges. As a representative of a nuclear power, her focus will encompass non-proliferation, nuclear safety, and CTBTO negotiations. Her diverse experience positions her as a pivotal figure in British foreign policy within the heart of Europe.
