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
22nd July 2015
10 year internship scheme anniversary (VI): On speech writing
Our guest blogger today is Daria Catalui, a passionate volunteer and founder of Danube, EDU youth regional NGO. Currently she is working in digital education for EU’s cybersecurity agency ENISA. I was an intern long time ago when studying in Bucharest. From the first moment when I entered the embassy for the interview to the […]
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20th July 2015 Beirut, Lebanon
KEEP ON WALKING, LEBANON
This week I walked the coast of Lebanon, from Hamat to Beirut. I wanted to find a way to say goodbye to people that was not about protocol-heavy meetings with leaders in air conditioned rooms. My security profile meant that we could not tell anyone we were coming, slightly undermining the plan, but it still […]
17th July 2015 Istanbul, Turkey
Like Father, (Not Quite) Like Son: Bashar Al-Assad’s Terrible 15 Years
There is a great Arabic proverb: ‘farkh al-bat awwam‘. In English, ‘the son of a duck, floats’, or, ‘like father, like son’. In Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s case, Mr al-Assad doesn’t so much float as sink like a stone. 15 years ago today, Bashar ‘inherited’ the rule of Syria from his father, who, to be […]
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16th July 2015
10 year internship scheme anniversary (VI): Things always happen for a reason
Today’s guest blogger is Cosmina Grigore, a PR professional and patient coach. Cosmina was one of the earliest alumni and as a student she was the first to contact the embassy and to suggest the programme. “This idea will never happen. They’ve never done such thing”, she said to me. Then she added: “It’s impossible, […]
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16th July 2015
10 year internship scheme anniversary (V): Why volunteering is important
Next up in our guest posts series is Elis Bechir, former Political Section intern and currently part of UNV staff working in Haiti. Here’s her take on the importance of volunteering. On my last job interview -which I passed- I was asked why is volunteering important to me. Whenever I am asked about my professional […]
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16th July 2015
10 year internship scheme anniversary (IV): How to help run a QBP
Beatrice Panduru has just recently finished her internship . She worked closely with the embassy’s events officer to deliver this year’s Queen’s Birthday Party. Sunny days. These are the words to describe my time at the Embassy. Taking it from the beginning, the first time I visited the embassy was when I had my interview […]
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16th July 2015
10 year internship scheme anniversary (III): How to get off on the right foot in your career
Andra Cazacu was a British Embassy intern in 2007 and is currently working as a Product Marketing Manager at Bitdefender, one of Romania’s leading IT companies. Here’s what she thinks about her time with the embassy as an intern. 8 years ago (I can’t believe how long it’s been), I read about an opening for […]
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15th July 2015
10 year internship scheme anniversary(II): Tailoring your own story
Our second guest blogger is Dimitrie Mihes, an internship alumnus and our current economic officer in the embassy’s political section. Having been reminded several times by our ever-so-vigilant comms officer, Catalina, to write about my time as an intern with the British Embassy, my guilty conscience started to outweigh the pleasure of procrastination. So as […]
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15th July 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ethiopia hosting FFD3: A testament to progress in eradicating poverty
Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is delighted; it has been preparing for months to welcome the 5000 or so high profile international guests (including Heads of States, Ministers and other special representatives of countries) attending the Third Financing for Development Conference (FFD3). And so far, so very good! The UK’s delegation, led by Justine […]
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15th July 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Engaging the world
On his recent visit to Latin America, Pope Francis reminded us of the need for international solidarity and a universal vision. It is not always easy for national governments to meet such aspirations in full. After all, they are in the final analysis – especially if they are democratically elected – accountable to their own […]