Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

24th November 2020 Vienna, Austria

Alex Hammond

Digital Communications Officer, British Embassy Vienna

Embassy Q&A for UK nationals in Austria – Thursday 26 November 2020

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK PART IN THIS Q&A. We have now responded to your comments here and on facebook. You can find a document with all of the questions and answers here. The British Embassy Vienna is running an online Q&A session on our embassy facebook page on Thursday 26 November. At midday on […]

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23rd November 2020 Dublin, Ireland

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by Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

UK Transition Period: A message for British Citizens living in Ireland

The Transition Period following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU ends on 31 December 2020. The UK and Irish governments both want to make sure any changes impact on you as little as possible. But there will be certain changes for which it is important to be prepared. Therefore, as we approach the end of […]

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19th November 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia

Vaska Bojadji

Child Rights Specialist and Chevening Alumna

World Children’s Day-The Challenges of Children in the Past and the Children of Today

February 2010, Palais Wilson, Geneva I clearly remember the excitement of strolling in Palais Wilson in Geneva, where me and Elena – two seventeen-year-old girls, were about to meet the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. This UN body is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the […]

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19th November 2020

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by Matt Field

British Diplomat

A floor not a ceiling

Dayton. The very name evokes both peace and division. This 21 November marks the 25th anniversary of the accord secured in Dayton, Ohio, and then signed on 14 December in Paris. How do we mark this moment? The agreement reached on that distant air-force base has had a profound impact on the shaping of Bosnia […]

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17th November 2020 Canberra, Australia

Vicki Treadell

British High Commissioner to Australia

Creating our future: #TogetherForOurPlanet

In November 2021 the UK is hosting the next major UN Climate Conference – known as COP26.  Glasgow, the UK’s most sustainable city, will play host to what has been called “the Olympics of international diplomacy” as thousands of representatives from every country arrive to discuss the challenge of tackling climate change. While the entertainment […]

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13th November 2020 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Time Like an Ever Rolling Stream

This has been a solemn week in what has been a desperately sad month in a desperately sad year. On 11 November the UK like many other countries commemorates Remembrance Day, or Armistice Day, which originally marked the guns falling silent at the end of the First World War.  Every country has its own way […]

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11th November 2020 Tokyo, Japan

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Remembrance Day in Japan

On Sunday I took part in the annual Remembrance Day commemorations at the Commonwealth War Cemetry in Hodagaya, Yokohama. I was conscious that many similar ceremonies in the UK had had to be scaled down this year because of COVID restrictions. So it was good to see that, in Japan at least, a large number […]

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30th October 2020 London

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by Joelle Jenny

Director, Joint Funds Unit

20 years of Women, Peace and Security

Women peacebuilders in Georgia

Today marks 20 years since the UK led the first ever UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security. It’s an important moment to champion the crucial role women can play as actors and decision-makers at all levels in peace and political processes. Women’s participation in peace processes is essential. For reasons of equity […]

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