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FCDO Human Rights
Human rights work at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
26th July 2017
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On 27th July the United Kingdom will mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. On this day in 1967 the Sexual Offences Act was passed, decriminalising same-sex acts between consenting adults over the age of 21. Homosexual acts had until then been outlawed by legislation passed in the nineteenth century. Today we take […]
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22nd March 2017
London, UK
I seem to have reached an age when there will be funerals. My father’s last year was bittersweet, after a life so fully lived. A similar mixture of grief and celebration permeated the funeral last month of Sir Nigel Rodley, the most distinguished British human rights expert of his generation. In these personal reflections I […]
Read more on If you seek his monument, look around you | Reply
20th March 2017
London, UK
We recently celebrated International Women’s Day, a day when we can celebrate the achievements of women in history and around the world. It’s also a day when we look to address the barriers that hold back women. I was delighted to have been appointed to the new role of Special Envoy for Gender Equality. This […]
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8th March 2017
London, UK
“I would venture to guess than Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman” – Virginia Woolf hit the nail on the head. Too often the incredible work and leadership provided by women has been obscured by modesty, self-doubt, or in some cases outright sexism. The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth […]
Read more on Women leading British diplomacy across Europe | Reply
8th March 2017
London, UK
I am always dubious about so-called silver bullets that allegedly solve a host of problems. “Life can’t be that simple,” I think. “Surely there must be a catch?” But there is one step that would improve countless lives — and make the world an infinitely better place — if only every government summoned the will […]
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7th March 2017
London, UK
Delivering support and achieving progress in Somalia requires more than one international partner. Multilateral institutions are a vital way of convening the international community and combining our efforts to have a greater effect. One of the many ways in which the UK supports progress in Somalia is through our Permanent Seat on the United Nations […]
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7th March 2017
London, UK
To me, and I expect many others, the word slavery conjures up images of the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. Although the institution of slavery has been almost entirely abolished around the globe, there are still millions of people living in conditions of slavery. When we talk of child soldiers, women trafficked into the […]
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24th January 2017
London, UK
Introduction by Rob Fenn, Head of Human Rights & Democracy Department: By any standards, 2016 was a dramatic year. Finding myself in interesting times, my personal reaction has been to read history. My phone is now crammed with adventure novels set in an equally tumultuous period for the UK, the mid 17th Century – and […]
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11th December 2016
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
This week we celebrate the 68th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For the people of Yemen who have suffered during two years of war this must feel like an abstract and distant concept. Prior to the conflict Yemen was already one of the poorest countries in the region and now, as a […]
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10th December 2016
London, UK
10 December is Human Rights Day and around the world British Embassies will be expressing their commitment to universal fundamental rights. We do this because human rights are important in themselves. But they are also good for our societies and economies. The World Bank have said respect for human rights can “improve development outcomes and […]
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