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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
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Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
22nd September 2015 Khartoum
The positive power of sport
Eid Mubarak to everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful Eid with your families and friends. Eid is a time for people to come together in peace and I hope that this Eid will have a positive impact on the political climate here in Sudan, leading to reconciliation and a successful national dialogue. However, […]
22nd September 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Teaming up to transform the world with Chevening
The application window opens this week for the Chevening Rolls-Royce Science and Innovation Leadership Fellowship Program (CRISP). The programme aims to build collaborations between the UK and Sri Lanka in business, science and innovation. It connects leading Sri Lankans with the best British academicians and practitioners. The 11 week programme at the University of Oxford’s […]
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21st September 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Baked Goods
So Bob asked me to guest blog for him this week. There were two ways I could approach this; try and write like Bob, with jokes about cats and the trials of combining domesticity with working at the Human Rights Council. Or, cut my own path. So here goes: I’m now in my 5th year […]
21st September 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Are Human Rights Universal?
In December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Referring to a covenant that was by then already well over 700 years old, Eleanor Roosevelt welcomed the Declaration by saying she hoped it would become a Magna Carta for the world. Many today still argue that these fundamental rights enshrined […]
21st September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Cuba and the Church: from cocktail wars to a common future
Just over ten years ago, the European Union embassies in Cuba, including the United Kingdom, were involved in a stand-off with the Cuban government in Havana that became immortalised as “the cocktail wars”. Despite the seemingly frivolous impression given of the spat (which concerned the invitation to embassy receptions of dissident Cubans), there were deadly […]
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21st September 2015 London, UK
Proud to be British – Proud to be me. My journey as a refugee to a British diplomat
Like many, I have been moved by the tragedies unfolding amidst the great migration crisis of our time. I want to share the story of my journey from a refugee to a British diplomat. I hope my personal reflections can help both combat the stigma attached to refugees (and some criticism aimed at the UK), […]
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18th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK China People to People talks
The magnificent Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich provided a splendid setting for this year’s UK/China People to People dialogue on 17 September. The Wren-designed buildings of the College, facing the towers of Canary Wharf across a Thames River sparkling in September sunshine, presented a fine example of the juxtaposition of […]
17th September 2015 Vancouver, Canada
Battle of Britain: for me it is about courage
It’s been 75 years since The Battle of Britain. Given that my daughter thinks the 1990s were the ‘olden days’, this is quite some time. Yet still we remember it, and rightly so. Not only because it’s important to honour those who sacrificed themselves for us, but because of the enduring legacy the Battle has […]
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17th September 2015 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 24 August-13 September 2015
Want to receive this newsletter in your inbox as soon as it’s compiled? Join our mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/30qLH Our weekly wrap-up of science news in Canada, 24 August-13 September 2015: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-24-august-13-september-2015
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17th September 2015 London, UK
International Democracy Day and Launch of Magna Carta Partnerships
On UN International Democracy Day 2015, I was delighted to host an event to launch the FCO’s first human rights initiative of this Parliament: Magna Carta Partnerships, a new agile fund to deploy British legal and parliamentary expertise to help reinvigorate global support for democracy and rule of law. In this 800th anniversary of the […]
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