17th July 2025
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
15th July 2025
International Day of Women in Diplomacy: UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls visit to Geneva
1st May 2025
The UN Commission on the Status of Women: My first visit as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
2nd January 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
World Day of Peace: Against Modern Slavery
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See In his message for the World Day of Peace (1st January), Pope Francis has returned to the struggle against modern slavery. His address, entitled “No longer Slaves, but Brothers” highlights the many different faces of […]
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1st January 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Further British aid for Ethiopian response to refugees fleeing South Sudan
Half a million South Sudanese refugees who have fled the continuing fighting in #SouthSudan have settled in #Ethiopia, #Kenya and #Uganda. Among them, more than 190,000 refugees have arrived in Ethiopia alone, almost all of them in #Gambella region, since conflict broke out in December 2013. Continuing insecurity and logistical constraints due to heavy rains […]
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31st December 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 15-28 December 2014
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31st December 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 8-14 December 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-8-14-december-2014 [View the story “Canadian science news: 8-14 December 2014” on Storify]
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31st December 2014 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A Year of Tragedies, Triumphs and Togetherness
I wanted to write a blog looking back on 2014 from the High Commission’s perspective but I have to admit that it’s been difficult to get the words right. 2014 was by any measure a challenging year for Malaysia and the High Commission. The nation has had to deal with an unprecedented number of large-scale […]
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30th December 2014 Kingston, Jamaica
First Impressions
Below is a guest blog from our Desk Officer in London , Andy Holbrook. Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to learn more about the UK’s relationship with Jamaica when I was invited to stay as a guest at the High Commissioner’s Residence in Kingston. I was recently appointed as Deputy Head of the […]
30th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Back to 2015
It’s that time of year when many of us look ahead at the coming year, and wonder what lies in wait. Fortunately, 2015 has already been predicted and captured on film, 25 years ago, in Back to the Future II. OK, so we’re still waiting on hover-boards, but the film did seem to hit the […]
29th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Unsung Heroine
A few weeks ago, I was asked to try to locate the grave of Eileen Harewood. She was Matron at the Princess Tsahai Hospital in #Addis and had been in Ethiopia for 14 years when she was found murdered in her quarters on 12 September 1961, aged 51. According to the #Glasgow Herald of 17 […]
29th December 2014 Havana, Cuba
Cuba’s ageing population – lessons from around the world
Cuba’s ageing population is widely-acknowledged as a serious problem. Marino Murillo, now Minister for the Economy, has described it as a ‘colossal challenge for the nation’. The bare facts are: in 2021 more people will leave the labour force than will join, in 2026 more Cubans will die than will be born and the number […]
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29th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Revisiting Romania
During a visit to London last month I headed to the delightfully quirky Horniman Museum at Forest Hill, where curator Fiona Kerlogue gave me a tour of the Revisiting Romania exhibition, on show since October. The exhibition offers a beautiful display of Romanian folk art, from embroidered sheepskin jackets to the intricately carved distaffs often […]