FCDO Human Rights
Human rights work at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
27th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On Tuesday last week I gave up my seat as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Romania to Nicoleta Ghita, a very confident and capable young lady from Sector 5 in Bucharest. This was part of Child Takeover Day – an initiative that started in the UK and has been brought to Romania for the first time […]
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26th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
25 November was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is shameful that crimes by humans against other humans are, it seems, an inevitable element of the human condition. The use of rape as a weapon of war, or human trafficking as a lucrative trade by organised crime, are all too […]
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26th November 2012
Cape Town, South Africa
I have just returned from a visit to South Africa’s Eastern Cape – one of the three provinces we cover from the Consulate-General in Cape Town (the Western and Northern Capes are the other two provinces). As well as Port Elizabeth and East London, I visited the rural towns of Craddock, Bedford and Graaf-Reinet, talking […]
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25th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
We are living in modern times, where women are respected, right? Women have reached leadership positions across the world. In Africa, we have women presidents. This year, Dlamini-Zuma was elected as the African Union’s first female Chairperson. But still too many women and girls live in fear, facing unacceptable risks of violence and having no […]
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25th November 2012
Dublin, Ireland
The following is a guest post by Stana Buchowska PhD on the serious issues of human trafficking and violence against women. It is an admirable analysis of a complex problem. Let me add a word on our Foreign Minister’s initiative on preventing sexual violence in armed conflict. When we think of armed conflict, we think […]
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23rd November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Guest blog by Jenny Söderqvist, Political Attaché at the British Embassy in Sweden This Sunday is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – a UN initiative to raise awareness about this complex and serious problem. The date – 25 of November – has not been chosen at random, but marks the […]
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15th November 2012
Budapest, Hungary
Guest blog by Foreign Policy, Justice and Home Affairs and Human Rights Attaché Levente Nyitrai …and surprises seem to like me too as I’ve had plenty of them in the past few months. In July I found out that I’d been nominated for the British Civil Service Diversity and Equality Award in the so-called Individual […]
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18th October 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
179 years ago today the British Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act, outlawing the slave trade after years of courageous campaigning by William Wilberforce and others who spoke out against the exploitation of men and women and opposed the vested economic interests in this vile business. Unfortunately this trade continues today, here in Europe. Last […]
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12th October 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Many people in Guatemala have been reflecting on the value of life this week, following the incident on 4 October in Totonicapán (western Guatemala) when eight protestors were killed following clashes with security forces. It’s a theme that also resonated on 10 October, World Day against the Death Penalty. The death penalty is an emotive […]
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10th October 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Today is both World and European Day against the Death Penalty. As British Ambassador to Ethiopia, I am responsible for lobbying the Ethiopian government on issues that are important to the United Kingdom. And in partnership with other European Union (EU) Ambassadors, I will be calling on the Ethiopian government to abolish the death penalty. […]
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