Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

8th November 2024

Berlin, Germany

Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?

by Kate Robinson

Science and Innovation Advisor, British Embassy Berlin

17th October 2024

Belgrade, Serbia

OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA

by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

11th October 2024

Vienna

Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime

by Corinne Kitsell

Ambassador and UK Permanent Representative to IAEA and CTBTO

3rd November 2014

by Greg Dorey

Diplomat

This post was published when the author was in a previous role

This week we welcomed Sir Alec and Lady Reed back to Addis Ababa to mark the 25th anniversary of #Ethiopiaid. Since it was established in the #UK in 1989, branches have also been opened in #Australia, #Canada and #Ireland. And some £30 million – around a billion Birr – has been donated to meet urgent […]

ANZAC departure commemorations in Albany, WA

“From this place, on this day a century ago, thousands of Australian and New Zealand servicemen departed on what many considered a great adventure. For the first time our nations were to contribute on a large scale to major world events.” So began the commemorative service in Albany, in the far south tip of Western […]

2nd November 2014 London, UK

by Philip Parham

UK Commonwealth Envoy, former British Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates

What’s in a date?

For as long as they have recorded themselves, humans have divided time – by the cycles of the sun (or rather the earth) and the moon, by the visibility of the constellations, by the migration of prey and the growth of crops, and by the anniversaries of the events and heroes through whose prisms they […]

31st October 2014 Brasilia, Brazil

by Luana Seabra

Recruitment – Guestpost by Adam Dady

Guestpost by Adam Dady We’re lucky that when positions arise in the Embassy, we get lots of applications from talented people (to join the many who already work here). Since I joined the Political Team two years ago, I’ve interviewed for jobs across the Embassy on average every two months. I thought I’d share some […]

31st October 2014 Kingston, Jamaica

by Chris Feist

Migration Delivery Officer, British High Commission, Jamaica

Teamwork and friendship

This is my first blog as the new head of the Migration Team in Kingston Jamaica. As I reflect on my time here so far, teamwork and friendship are the two words that best describe to me how the British High Commission and our partners across the Government of Jamaica and the NGOs come together to make […]

31st October 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria

by British Embassy Sofia

A Way of Life That Is Sadly Going Away

by Prisca Middlemiss Prisca Middlemiss together with her husband Neil Middlemiss were English language teachers in Rousse in the early 1970s. Was it New Year 1974 or 1975? The date escapes me now, but what remains imprinted on my memory is the pig killing. It happened in Vodolei, a village north of Veliko Turnovo, in the middle […]

31st October 2014

by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

This post was published when the author was in a previous role

A reliable source

One of the biggest changes in my working life has been in communication. When I started working as a diplomat, we read newspapers, and had a “cuttings service” of news articles that were circulated on paper. I read it days after it was first distributed. Today, I get my “newspaper” cuttings electronically, and they’re waiting […]

DementiaHack: Dementia Hackathon 2014

Back in August, we wrote about an exciting upcoming event called DementiaHack. We hoped to bring together a bunch of researchers, clinicians, caregivers, people living with dementia and computer scientists to code some creative tech-based solutions to some of the challenges that people face with this issue. A little over a month after the event […]

29th October 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

With love, Jane: a documentary about Jane Haining (Scottish Holocaust martyr)

Guest blog by Lídia Bánóczi, producer of IKON Stúdió Egyesület. The film, recently finished with the support of the British Embassy in Budapest, pays tribute to Jane Haining (1897 Dunscore, Scotland – 1944 Auschwitz), the martyr matron of the Girls’ Home of the Scottish Mission in Budapest. The documentary was filmed in Budapest and Scotland, […]

29th October 2014 Toronto, Canada

by John Preece

Canadian science news: 20-26 October 2014

Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-20-26-october-2014 [View the story “Canadian science news: 20-26 October 2014” on Storify]