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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
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International Day of Women in Diplomacy: UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls visit to Geneva
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The UN Commission on the Status of Women: My first visit as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
22nd December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
High Growth Europe
I was back in London for a few days last month to attend a series of events focused on the export opportunities for UK companies represented by the Central European region, stretching from Poland in the north to Bulgaria in the south. The centrepiece was the High Growth Europe Showcase, organised in concert with the […]
22nd December 2014 Paris, France
2014, a year of anniversaries
So this is the time of year when I look back at what we’ve achieved and 2014 will stay in my mind a long time as a year of anniversaries. We’ve had the 20th anniversary of the Channel Tunnel, and the Queen unveiled a little plaque to commemorate that at Saint Pancras when she was coming […]
22nd December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A Tale of Three Cities
Today I am pleased to welcome a guest blogger on my blog, Sir David King, The Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change. He recently visited Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo and shares his experiences of sustainable urban transport: Sustainable Transport: A Tale of Three Cities. It was the worst of times for the climate; it […]
22nd December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Piyumi’s Story
Our sixth blog is by Lynn Stanier, a specialist travel agent to Sri Lanka, organising holiday and sports tours. Lynn turned her immediate devastation into a long term determination to support vulnerable children. Immediately after the tsunami, I visited Sri Lanka with my son Ryan to volunteer and support the Sri Lankan people. I […]
21st December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
IODR: Rebuilding lives, bringing smiles
The fifth blog in our series tells of the inspiration for Indian Ocean Disaster Relief (IODR), a charity which supports especially children to survive a natural disaster, and then rebuild their lives. Chairman and founder, Tony Matharu, tells the story. Nearly 10 years ago on Boxing Day 2004, having overindulged during the Christmas period, I […]
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20th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
The Asian Tsunami: A Volunteer’s Tale
For our fourth blog in the series, we look in house. Gary Leslie, currently Head of UK Trade and Industry at the High Commission, but in 2004 based in London, was in the first team of Foreign and Commonwealth Office volunteers to be deployed to Sri Lanka. Here is his story. On the morning of 26 […]
19th December 2014 Los Angeles, USA
Connecting through the Internet of Things
By Irina Calos On my very first day as Los Angeles Science and Innovation Officer, I had the opportunity to attend the 2nd Annual Internet of Things Summit at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The Internet of Things describes an array of products that employ sensors that connect to the internet to provide […]
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19th December 2014 London, UK
Our digital diplomacy in 2014
I’ve just been presenting to senior Foreign Office leaders on our digital work in 2014. It’s been a momentous year. The Digital Transformation Unit we envisaged in the Digital Strategy became fully operational this spring. The Unit brought new skills into the Foreign Office – expertise in the delivery of modern digital services, expertise in […]
19th December 2014 London, UK
List time! My favourite Foreign Office social media content of 2014
In no particular order: 1. The FCO’s first foray into Buzzfeeding 2. This gif to outline the UK priorities for UNGA in September 3. Some brilliant visualisations of the conversation around the End Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit Mapping the online conversation around the Global Summit to End #SexualViolence in Conflict: http://t.co/uWF2tsf5Cb pic.twitter.com/3Q8Fw2AGfF — SexualViolenceInWar (@end_svc) August […]
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19th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Festive 50: From “Every Little Bit Hurts" To "Stay With Me"
It’s a delicate business judging how much personal stuff to put in a blog. In the past I’ve written official blogs with a rich mix of personal and work entries. Then Twitter came along and much personal material, such as my famous series #reasonstolikeIstanbul, was swept away into the Twitterverse. I’ve so far tweeted out […]
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