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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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10th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Who Needs Diplomats?
Diplomacy is an old profession. Over two thousand years ago Greek city states used to send envoys to negotiate war, peace and trade. But surely with new technology, governments don’t need intermediaries? They can use the internet, videoconferencing and Skype to talk to each other. And with multiple news websites, instant reporting and people uploading […]
10th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Human Rights begin at home
(on occasion of Human Rights Day, 10 December) There is a time in life when we start learning from people younger than ourselves. Perhaps that’s the best moment as a parent – when your children start telling you things you didn’t know. We joke in Britain that you know you are getting older, when policemen […]
10th December 2014 Bucharest, Romania
The challenge of eradicating modern slavery
The Santa Marta Conference – organised jointly by the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police Service and the Bishops Conference – brought together stakeholders, civil society, national law enforcement authorities from both supply and demand countries and leaders of religious congregations, to look at practical ways to join up in the work against modern slavery and […]
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9th December 2014 Athens, Greece
The 9th December is World Anti Corruption Day. Why does corruption matter?
The UN World Anti-Corruption Day is commemorated on 9 December. Some will argue that it is part of everyday life and present in every society. I personally disagree, as I believe that It erodes trust within societies –and particularly young people- between businesses and between nations. Corruption diverts resources from where they are most needed, […]
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9th December 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
Fighting corruption – a window of opportunity?
Today, 9 December, is also the ninth UN International Anti-Corruption Day. Yemen is the 11th most corrupt country in the world, ranking 161 out of 174 countries, on a par with Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti and Venezuela, according to Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The scope of the CPI is limited to public perceptions […]
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9th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
World Anti-Corruption Day
The 9 December is World Anti-Corruption Day. Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. It undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability. A couple of weeks ago Transparency International published its latest Corruptions Perceptions Index which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide. […]
9th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Costs of Corruption
9 December is World Anti-Corruption Day. Corruption is a global problem – it hurts a country’s economic, political and social development; it adds unnecessary costs to doing business and it denies smaller, less well resourced companies the chance to compete fairly. It hurts individuals in their daily lives. Corruption impacts the most vulnerable groups in […]
9th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
30 years after hell on earth….
A joint blog with Julius Court, Acting Head of DFID-Ethiopia The latest Band Aid song focuses on Ebola. Rightly so, whether or not you agree with all the lyrics. During the festive season 30 years ago, when the original track was cut, the focus was on Ethiopia – specifically the northern region of Tigray. Everyone […]
9th December 2014 Singapore
How the South East Asia Prosperity Fund is helping in the fight against corruption
Today marks International Anti-Corruption Day which is a great opportunity to share more about some of the work that Southeast Asia Prosperity Fund supports. Since its inception in 2011, nearly a fifth of the Prosperity Fund’s grants have gone to projects to better enable transparency in government and businesses; reflecting the importance of combating corruption […]
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9th December 2014 Yerevan, Armenia
Remembrance and reconciliation: WW1 centenary events from the UK and German Embassies
Why were the German Ambassador and I at a British-German football match on Friday afternoon, singing Christmas carols and drinking hot soup from tin mugs? What was UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon doing at a penalty shoot-out between British and German delegations to the UN? For a week, in football matches across the UK […]
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