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RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
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?
19th August 2015 Istanbul, Turkey
The UK Effort to #ShareHumanity With Syria
Today, 19 August, is World Humanitarian Day. It’s invidious to choose among the most pressing humanitarian crises around the world. But there’s one very close to my heart: Syria. I work with my team across three countries – Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan – to help resolve the Syria crisis. So far, the Syria crisis has […]
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19th August 2015 London, UK
Migration: Turkey’s hospitality, UK’s efforts and strengthening our cooperation
Every day I am stuck by the tragic events unfolding in the Mediterranean, with migrants from a host of nationalities risking their lives trying to enter the EU. Many of these people, especially those using the Eastern Mediterranean route, leave their homes, often in fear of their lives, usually fleeing conflict in their own country […]
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19th August 2015 Singapore
Low Carbon Cities Malaysia: Helping cities create the conditions for green growth
Today’s guest blog is by Robert Hatcher, an Associate at The Carbon Trust. Rob supports the delivery of technical services and is extensively involved with carbon management programmes. Working with public sector clients in the UK and abroad, Rob has delivered an array of technical advice and carbon management strategies. This year the Malaysian government […]
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18th August 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
REPUBLIKA SRPSKA. IT’S HERE TO STAY. SO CAN WE MOVE ON NOW?
During my first year here, I have been struck by just how much political energy in the RS is spent on worrying about imagined threats to its continued existence. Political speeches have little to say about the really serious problems facing ordinary people in Republika Srpska, and across BiH, with a struggling economy, high unemployment and […]
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18th August 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Four Years in Stockholm
Four years after arriving here, I leave Stockholm at the end of this week for a new posting at the UK delegation to NATO in Brussels. I’m looking forward to the new job and new city. But it will be hard to leave Stockholm, and I will carry with me many memories of this wonderful […]
18th August 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Future Chevening leaders in the making!
Our 2015/16 Ethiopian Chevening Scholars will be heading off to begin their year’s study at top #UK universities in few weeks’ time. This year we were able to offer places to 12 scholars (11 Ethiopians and one Djiboutian). Those who were selected fought off strong competition, making the final cut from over 300 applications. I […]
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18th August 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Why British manufacturing is so competitive
“I was astonished,” the senior Turkish contact tells me. “This British company got in touch to bid for [commercially sensitive – an electronic supply contract for a huge project] and it turned out that their product was fantastic! And a great price! I mean, I know you Brits are great at business services, architecture, design, […]
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17th August 2015
Diplomatic Uniforms at the Holy See
One of the quirks of being posted to the Holy See is that it is one of the few in the world where Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission regularly have to wear diplomatic uniforms. It comes as a surprise to many that the Foreign Office has a uniform at all – unless they had […]
17th August 2015 New Delhi, India
Translating UK-India Partnership to Innovation
Later this year, we will be bringing a UK delegation out to India to visit innovation and incubation centres. The ‘Make in India’ initiative involves the need to promote innovation and entrepreneurs and we believe the UK’s expertise in this area could be leveraged to create more joint collaborations. To better understand our own innovation […]
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17th August 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Volunteering is GREAT
It’s been hot this summer. I’ve been getting out of Minsk to have some fresh air and enjoy the countryside. This has included visiting British volunteers working outside Minsk. It’s been great to meet them, because most are young people who haven’t experienced living in foreign countries before – except on holiday. I enjoyed hearing […]