Human rights work at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
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 […]
25th November 2012
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 […]
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
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 […]
18th October 2012
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 […]
12th October 2012
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
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. […]
1st October 2012 Geneva, Switzerland
Human Rights Council sessions rarely end up being either a resounding success or an unmitigated disaster. They rather tend to be a mixed bag with some good things, some bad and a few which leave you scratching your head, wondering what it meant and why it happened in the first place. The September session was […]
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27th September 2012
On 25 September, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague co-hosted an event at the UN General Assembly alongside Zainab Bangura, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. He spoke about his Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), launched in London last May. The PSVI aims to strengthen international efforts and co-ordination to prevent and […]
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