8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
17th October 2024
OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
11th October 2024
Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
10th March 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Archbishop Gallagher in the UK
Last week I accompanied the Holy See Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, on a visit to the United Kingdom. He came at the invitation of the British government, so inevitably much of his time was taken up in official meetings with a wide range of government ministers. He visited five different Departments […]
10th March 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What does the UK’s EU referendum mean for Bosnia and Herzegovina?
The date is set. On 23 June, the British public will vote on whether the UK should remain in the EU, or whether we should leave. The British Government is not neutral in this debate. Having secured an agreement to a special status for the UK, the Government has said clearly that it believes that the UK will […]
Read more on What does the UK’s EU referendum mean for Bosnia and Herzegovina? | Reply (2)
9th March 2016 Mumbai, India
Attaché week – London
Last week, I was in London for the annual meeting of the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) overseas attaché network. This was an excellent opportunity for me and my counterparts based in China, Singapore, Brazil, Geneva, and Washington DC to meet with a wide range of stakeholders in the UK across government, industry, and civil […]
9th March 2016 Addis Ababa
International Women’s Day – 08 March 2016
Powerful and influential women are part of every country’s history, and Ethiopia is no exception. Empress Taytu Betul, was arguably Ethiopia’s most influential women in modern times. She was more than a match for her husband, Menelik II, the renowned commander and military strategist. Historians have drawn attention to the key role she played in […]
Read more on International Women’s Day – 08 March 2016 | Reply (4)
8th March 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
Step it up for gender mainstreaming in defence
Today we are marking International Women’s Day. It is usually the day when we are reminded that women are today represented in a multitude of fields: community builders and advisers, soldiers, diplomats, homemakers, doctors, analysts and officials. Different countries have different policies and different gender representation, but there are some issues which are shared topics […]
Read more on Step it up for gender mainstreaming in defence | Reply
8th March 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
Let This International Women’s Day Be Different
By the end of this year the President of the United States and the Secretary General of the United Nations could both be women. Women have made more progress towards real equality during my lifetime than in the previous 20,000 years of human history. When my mother was a British diplomat, she did not think […]
Read more on Let This International Women’s Day Be Different | Reply
8th March 2016 London, UK
Women’s Day: what “empowerment” means
Just in case you missed it, the UK’s theme for International Women’s Day 2016 is “Leadership and Empowerment”. I think I’m alright on defining leadership (something to do with steering a boat, right?) but when I sat down to draft a pithy piece on empowerment, I hit a blank – rare, for me. Because what […]
7th March 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
More is Less
Aftershave. Make-up. Back hair. At some point during our adolescence we realise that less is usually more and adjust our personal grooming behaviour accordingly. Despite my awkward formative years, even I managed to understand that aftershave was not to be applied by the bottle (though I never worried much about my make-up). The Council turns […]
7th March 2016 Athens, Greece
Magna Carta tour at the British schools
Throughout 2015, British embassies across the world celebrated the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede. This is the foundation document of the rule of law in England – including the important principle that the Crown itself is subject to the law. In our Embassy at Athens, we made the Magna […]
Read more on Magna Carta tour at the British schools | Reply
7th March 2016 Science and Innovation Network
Opportunities for UK-India collaborations in advanced manufacturing
In December, we supported a visit of UK advanced manufacturing experts to Pune and Bengaluru in India. This included Ben Kitcher, who represented the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the University of Sheffield. Ben wrote an excellent blog (originally on the University of Sheffield website) capturing why this sort of visit is so important […]
Read more on Opportunities for UK-India collaborations in advanced manufacturing | Reply