3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
23rd September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Of Bison Men
One of the many great NGOs in Romania with which the Embassy has a long-established relationship is the Romanian branch of the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF). We provided support to the WWF for example in helping to bring the Earth Hour initiative to Romania. I was therefore delighted to accept this month an […]
23rd September 2015 Canberra, Australia
What can Australia learn from UK innovation?
As the Australian representative for the UK Science and Innovation Network one of my responsibilities is to promote the UK’s scientific excellence in Australia. Fortunately for me, both countries have a long history of collaboration and an excellent pedigree in science. I am proud to promote the achievements of both my native and (professionally) adopted […]
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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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