3rd December 2024
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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
23rd June 2016
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 […]
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23rd June 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Taking pride in PRIDE
Colombo is reaching the end of a three week celebration of PRIDE activities. The events, largely coordinated by Equal Ground, included a Rainbow Bus Parade, a pop quiz, a Film Festival at the British Council and a kite festival – an appropriately diverse range of ways to draw attention to an important human right, the […]
23rd June 2016 Bangalore, India
Protecting water source
Dr. Richard Allan is the MDT Research Fellow: Sustainable Water Management, James Hutton Institute (JHI), UK. He has worked in industry for over 23 years and has held a number of senior management positions before becoming Chief Scientist at Scottish Water and then Managing Director at Scottish Water Horizons. Richard was in Bangalore co-ordinating a […]
21st June 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Celebrating the Queen’s Birthday and UK/Romania Relations in Bucharest
The British Embassy in Bucharest hosted last week a reception for our partners and contacts across the worlds of government, business, diplomacy, culture, civil society, defence and law enforcement cooperation. The reception marked the official birthday of Her Majesty the Queen, which falls on the 2nd Saturday in June. Her Majesty’s actual birthday is 21 April, […]
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21st June 2016 Islamabad, Pakistan
How to survive Ramazan
If you are living in the Northern hemisphere, and observing traditional fasting, then this year’s Ramazan is particularly difficult. The difference between the Islamic calendar and the Gregorian calendar means that every year it shifts nine or ten days, and for those fasting, this year it falls slap bang in the middle of the longest […]
20th June 2016 London, UK
Launching the digital archive
We have launched a remarkable collection of stories from the First World War. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is remembering the stories of 175 men from 11 countries who were awarded Britain’s highest award for bravery, the Victoria Cross. They represent a significant number of the 600 Victoria Crosses awarded during the First World War […]
20th June 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
Behind every successful woman…
In the months since the last Council session, Star Wars has come to dominate my home life. My son asks endless questions about the characters, while the rest of the family begrudgingly take turns to act them out. I’m most often cast as Jabba the Hutt while my Jedi son brandishes his light sabre and […]
17th June 2016 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
World Blood Donor Day 2016
This week we celebrated World Blood Donation day. Giving blood is one of the most powerful acts you can do to help other people in society. It is quite a feeling to know that you might save someone’s life in an emergency, help a mother in a difficult pregnancy, or support someone who is having […]
17th June 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania
Why I am – marching with Baltic Pride
This year Baltic Pride takes place in Vilnius. I am joining the Pride march to show my support and commitment to promoting and protecting rights for all. The UK champions the rights of LGBT people. British Embassies and High Commissions around the world support LGBT rights in their respective countries in a number of ways. […]
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17th June 2016 Canberra, Australia
Jo Cox
It is 26 years since a British MP was murdered. Back in 1990, the victim was Ian Gow, a Conservative politician, murdered by the IRA. In those days, we had come to half-expect such terrible events to punctuate the rhythm of life in the UK. But it was from an enemy we knew and recognised […]