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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
6th November 2014 Pretoria, South Africa
Supporting Women of the future
Supporting women’s progression both in the Diplomatic Service and outside has long been a passion of mine. A flying visit to the UK last week with South African Ministers allowed me to do both – and with really satisfying results. The project began with an invitation to select some young South African businesswomen for the […]
6th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Vale Gough Whitlam
One of the privileges of being a High Commissioner is being invited to represent Britain at great state occasions that tell the story of a country. Yesterday I was in Sydney for the State Memorial Service for former PM Gough Whitlam who passed away at the grand old age of 98. All seven living Australian […]
5th November 2014 Montreal, Canada
The Frankencell saga continues
The Frankencell saga we started last year (“Creating-altering life – the Frankencell”) continued after the long awaited visit to Montreal of UK´s Synthetic Biology champion former Minister David Willetts and this third episode discusses last week’s first UK-Canada Synthetic Biology Workshop. British Consul General Nick Baker opened this two-day event in Montreal hosted by […]
5th November 2014 London, UK
New York and the Human Rights ‘Third Committee’ at the United Nations
I have grounds to be nostalgic about New York, where I cut my teeth on human rights work more than twenty years ago. But I never thought I could be made to feel nostalgic about its “smoke filled rooms” (the root cause of the beige decor at UN HQ). But my colleague, Rhian Checkland, has […]
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5th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Taking risks for the Church
Pope Francis often talks of the need for priests to take risks, to get out into the streets, to live the message of the Gospel. This week I met a group of people who are living witnesses to just such an approach – descendants, relatives and friends of Msgr Hugh O’Flaherty, Major Sam Derry, and […]
4th November 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 27 October-2 November 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-27-october-2-november-2014 [View the story “Canadian science news: 27 October-2 November 2014” on Storify]
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4th November 2014 Skopje, North Macedonia
The Judiciary as Macedonia’s Foundation Stone
On Monday we opened the latest part of our long-standing collaboration with Macedonia to develop and strengthen the country’s judicial system. I joined Deputy Justice Minister Biljana Brishkovska-Boskoski, Judge Aneta Arnaudovska, Director of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors in Skopje, and Judge Aleksandra Zafirovska, President of the Judicial Council of Macedonia, in welcoming Sir Robin Auld and his […]
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4th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Kazakhstan Armed Forces members took part at Cambrian patrol in Wales
Guest blog by Mark Wentworth, British Defence Attaché to Kazakhstan. Eight members of the Kazakh Armed Forces recently participated in the internationally renowned Exercise CAMBRIAN PATROL that takes place annually in Wales, United Kingdom. The aim of the exercise is to “provide a challenging patrol environment in order to enhance operational capability”. During the exercise, […]
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4th November 2014 Bucharest, Romania
25 years of Children of Distress
2014 is an anniversary year because it marks 25 years since the 1989 Revolution. It also marks a milestone in the history of British NGOs operating in Romania. One such example is Children in Distress, whose pioneer work for HIV positive children in the 1990s paved the way for professional palliative care in Romania. We’ve […]
3rd November 2014 Tunis, Tunisia
What it feels like being part of a historic event: Tunisia’s parliamentary elections 2014
By: Emma Kouki On 26th October, Tunisians went to the polls in their first democratic legislative elections. Tunisia’s path to democracy has been a long, arduous process. After the Revolution in 2011, Tunisia has taken the right steps in securing a democratic political sphere; where one has the choice of choosing the party that speaks […]
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