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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
1st May 2025
The UN Commission on the Status of Women: My first visit as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
9th October 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
GIRLS TOGETHER
Friday the 11th of October is International Day of the Girl and an opportunity to reflect on the challenges that girls all over the world still face every day. In July of this year, the UK and UNICEF sponsored Girl Summit, an event held in a school in London which aimed to galvanise a global […]
9th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
ISS helping children and families worldwide
Problems with families and children are often even more complicated when there is a transnational element. Our consular teams regularly hear heart-wrenching stories about child abductions and custody disputes which may result in a child living on the other side of the world from one of its parents. International Social Service (ISS) is an impressive NGO that […]
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8th October 2014 Toronto, Canada
International Astronautical Congress 2014
The Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute hosted the 65th International Astronautical Congress 2014 last week, packing thousands of attendees into the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for one of the world’s premier space events. The UK was very well-represented, with the UK Space Agency staking out a large booth on the exhibition floor and almost 100 […]
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8th October 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 29 September-5 October 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-date-1 [View the story “Canadian science news: 29 September-5 October 2014” on Storify]
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8th October 2014 Hanoi, Vietnam
Good to be back
Hello, and welcome to what I plan to be a regular blog about my work as the British Ambassador to Vietnam. Although I only arrived here at the end of July, I’m not a stranger to Vietnam. I worked here in the 1990s as a young diplomat. When people hear this, their first question is […]
8th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Contemplations of a new arrival in Bosnia and Herzegovina
I arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July, and was lucky enough to spend a month improving my language skills in Mostar and in Banja Luka before arriving in Sarajevo to take up my post as the new British Ambassador. I have decided to start a blog in order to share some of my own […]
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8th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
DFID Sudan: Trips to the frontline
(Guest blog by colleagues from DFID Sudan) The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) supports programmes which deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance and improve access to basic services for some of Sudan’s most vulnerable people. It also aims to help lay the foundations for a more democratic, peaceful and prosperous future. Visiting the field is essential […]
8th October 2014 London, UK
After the NATO Summit
The UK was extremely proud to host world leaders at the NATO Summit on 4-5 September. The people of Newport were delighted to welcome the world to Wales to showcase their beautiful country. This was a moment when the UK, Turkey and 26 other NATO Allies could come together and show that we were united. […]
8th October 2014 Yaounde, Cameroon
Cities: threat or answer to our future?
If we can for a moment forget about today, tomorrow or next month’s problems and think about where we are heading in a hundred years, what the cities of Cameroon will look like is a key question. Will the cities of tomorrow become ungovernable, choked by ever increasing numbers of cars, ripe for crime and […]
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7th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Contributing to Caritas
Caritas Internationalis (CI) is the official humanitarian and development agency of the global Catholic Church. Created in the 1950s under papal guidance, it was described recently by Pope Francis as “an essential part of the Church”. It now has over 160 member organisations operating in 200 countries and territories around the globe, including CAFOD in […]