26th February 2026
Different Memories, Shared Futures: Why Inclusive Remembrance Matters for Serbia and the Region
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
22nd December 2025
Continuing to grow the global alliance for women and girls
17th December 2025
MAKING LIFE SAFER, FOR EVERYONE
14th December 2021
Ending preventable deaths and health systems strengthening: launch
In my role, I am surrounded by strong women – leaders, experts and fighters for issues they believe in. It is sobering for me to realise that many of these women would not be where they are today if they had not been able to freely make choices about their own lives and, even more fundamentally, their own […]
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9th December 2021 Geneva
Human Rights Day 2021
On 10 December each year, we celebrate Human Rights Day. To many, this tradition marks a commemoration of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the evolution of the international human rights architecture since 1948. For others, this day marks an annual moment to reflect on the global situation of human rights. […]
9th December 2021 Geneva
Introducing the European Human Rights Ambassadors: A Joint Blog
There is no doubt that COVID-19 has turned our world upside down. It has brought to the fore – and exacerbated – different forms of inequality. This is especially true amongst high-risk and vulnerable groups. Children and young people have been denied their education. Violence against women and LGBTI persons has increased. Democracy and the […]
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1st December 2021
The United Kingdom’s enduring commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Joint message from Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, FCDO Minister of State and the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, and Baroness Goldie, MoD Minister of State for Defence Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of the United Kingdom. As we have often heard in […]
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11th November 2021 Skopje, North Macedonia
Building resilience to disasters through adaptation and fellowship
“The Dwarves dug too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum… shadow and flame..” JRR Tolkien. The Fellowship of the Ring. The most frequently used words in the recent local election campaigns in North Macedonia have been green, humane and sustainable development. At least on paper, the political […]
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11th November 2021
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The world and us
On the 60th anniversary of the University of Sarajevo Faculty of Political Science, I addressed the conference “The World and Us”, held on 8 November. “My warm thanks for the invitation today. This is a prestigious list of speakers and panellists, many of whom I have been following for some time. And this is an […]
3rd November 2021 Science Innovation USA
Daybreak in San Francisco
Around the world, young people are driving ambition on climate action. In the lead-up to the UN’s climate conference COP26, the British and Italian Consulates in San Francisco held an event that aimed to engage and inspire a new generation of climate leaders, by reflecting on the dangerous effects of climate change, but also on […]
2nd November 2021 Stockholm, Sweden
The launch of the International Climate Council Network
World-leaders, policy-makers and negotiators from across the globe have converged on Glasgow for the United Nation’s 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26). Among the key objectives of COP26 will be to a) raise ambitions on climate action through countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reach net-zero by 2050 (including ambitious 2030 targets), and b) mobilize […]
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1st November 2021 Stockholm, Sweden
The Global Innovation Needs Assessments
Accelerating innovation in low-carbon technologies is essential to achieve our net-zero targets and to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. While both mature and novel low carbon technologies are already transforming the global economy, speeding up their deployment can reduce the cost of decarbonization, saving $2.7 trillion annually by 2050, and lower food […]
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21st October 2021 London, UK
Ignatius Sancho: changing perceptions of race in the 18th century
A few years ago, a plaque appeared on the side of the FCDO building in King Charles Street, Whitehall. Set high in the wall and easy to miss, it commemorates a former slave, abolitionist, writer, composer and grocer. Ignatius Sancho was a man who through his own authentic voice changed contemporary perceptions of what it […]
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