9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
3rd November 2014 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Changes to UK visa application process
On Friday a new British visa centre, where applicants in Uzbekistan can hand in documents and give their biometrics for UK visa applications, opened in the Tashkent Plaza. It’s run by Teleperformance, who won a tender last year to operate Visa Applications Centres on behalf of the UK visa authorities throughout Europe and Central Asia. […]
Read more on Changes to UK visa application process | Reply (9)
3rd November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Pockets of Hope
I recently met Peter Hullah and his colleagues who lead the “Women’s Education Partnership” a small British NGO working in Sudan to support women’s literacy. They are doing great work and we are delighted to be able to give them some modest help. Here is their story. “Listen to the disadvantaged and displaced women and […]
3rd November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
ETHIOPIAID….
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 […]
3rd November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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 […]
Read more on ANZAC departure commemorations in Albany, WA | Reply
2nd November 2014 London, UK
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
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
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
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 […]
Read more on A Way of Life That Is Sadly Going Away | Reply (4)
31st October 2014
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 […]
29th October 2014 Toronto, Canada
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 […]