FCDO Outreach

Reaching out to a wider audience to inform and inspire others

19th September 2016 London, UK

Ed Hobart

FCO Migration Envoy

Irregular migration: a global response to a global issue

Irregular migration is one of the biggest challenges facing the international community. Large movements of people, on a scale not seen since the Second World War in Europe, have been making headlines since last summer – more than one million refugees and migrants arrived in the EU in 2015, risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean. […]

13th September 2016 London, UK

by FCDO Editorial

Foreign Office Virtual tour

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

9th September 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania

by Claire Lawrence

Former British Ambassador to Lithuania

Why I am – celebrating the 25th anniversary of our Embassy

In 1991 the UK and Lithuania restored diplomatic relations. The UK recognised the re-establishment of the Independent State of Lithuania de jure on 27 August 1991, although we had never formally recognised the Soviet occupation. Things then moved quickly. Michael Peart, who was the UK’s first Ambassador to Lithuania after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, […]

9th September 2016 Kolkata, India

by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

From Belarus to … Bengal!

Last December, I flew in for the last time to Minsk, the city of my previous posting. As the aeroplane descended through the clouds, a pale whitish landscape emerged – there had been a light snow fall. Like many Britons, the sight of snow cheers me – I think it’s because we see it only […]

7th September 2016 London, UK

by Boris Johnson

Former Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs

How Syria can escape Asad’s reign of terror

For anyone who has visited Aleppo in peacetime, the news from the city today is enough to make you weep. We are seeing indiscriminate attacks on civilians; the bombing of medical facilities; children pulled bloodied from the rubble. We are forced to watch one of the most ancient homes of civilisation being literally pulverised, the […]

31st August 2016 London, UK

Alex Wright

Graduate Intern

My First Month at the Foreign Office

I joined the Foreign Office at the beginning of August as a Graduate Intern in the Africa Directorate and to say that I joined at an eventful time would be an understatement: a new Prime Minister, a new Foreign Secretary and two new government departments off the back of June’s Brexit vote (not to forget […]

11th July 2016 Geneva, Switzerland

by Julian Braithwaite

Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva

Continuity And Change Following The Referendum

As Britain’s ambassador in Geneva I have often been asked in recent days about developments in the UK. There has been much uncertainty and some anxiety. I have sought to explain, but also to reassure. On 23 June the British people voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. It is clear that some […]

7th July 2016 London, UK

by Baroness Anelay

Foreign Office Minister for Human Rights

Climate change: The opportunity of our age

This week, our Ambassadors and High Commissioners have returned to London for Leadership Week. I took the opportunity to speak with them, alongside my fellow peers in the House of Lords, about the agreement reached at the Paris climate Conference of Parties (COP21) and to provide reassurance about the Government’s commitment to tackling global climate […]

23rd June 2016

Elizabeth Radford

Senior UK Overseas Territories Officer with the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds

Securing pockets of paradise in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Elizabeth Radford, Senior UK Overseas Territories Officer with the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds, talks about her recent visit to the Turks and Caicos Islands where RSPB is working with local partners on site conservation. It was an overcast day in May when I climbed into a little motor boat and bounced across […]

16th June 2016

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

This post was published when the author was in a previous role

Disruptive dialogue

An important event I attended this week was a service at Westminster Abbey to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Anglican Centre in Rome. The Dean was joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury and a range of ecumenical guests from Rome and the Catholic Church, from Orthodox and Methodist churches, and including the Pope’s Secretary […]

About FCDO Outreach

The FCDO is doing more to promote its work to a wider audience, engaging with people to inform others about the work that we do and inspire them to think…

The FCDO is doing more to promote its work to a wider audience, engaging with people to inform others about the work that we do and inspire them to think about a career with us or work with us in other ways.

This blog is designed to capture a lot of the wide ranging work that we are doing across the office to engage people with the FCdO and its impacts. We welcome blogs from staff who have participated in or organised any event to engage people in the work that we do.

We also welcome blogs from the participants of these events on opinions about the impact and usefulness of them.

If you would like to blog please send an email digitalcontent@fco.gov.uk