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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
2nd October 2014 London, UK
Digital Week at the FCO
Last week, the FCO held its first ever Digital Week: a concentrated effort to show our staff how digital tools and technologies can transform our policy-making, service delivery and communications. We organised a busy programme of talks, masterclasses, digital clinics and competitions, delivered both in our London HQ and around our global network. So what […]
1st October 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Back to the future
I don’t get much time to read any books of my own these days. With two young children, most of the literature that comes my way tends either to have sparkly shapes, no more than about 10 words a page or contain clearly accessible lessons in morality. Which makes them the exact opposite of Human […]
1st October 2014 Paris, France
#HeforShe
The British actress Emma Watson is a UN Ambassador for women’s issues and she made her first speech at the UN a few days ago, launching a campaign on gender equality. I think she put her finger on a very important point, which is that gender equality is not a woman’s issue, it’s a man’s […]
1st October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Scotland The Wise
Three weeks ago the Economist’s front cover pictured a drooping Union Jack with the headline: UK RIP? Fortunately the dismemberment of the United Kingdom didn’t happen. Scots voted by a 10% margin to retain the union. But it was a close run thing. If the campaign for independence had been successful, the impact of Scotland […]
1st October 2014 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Chevening Scholarship scheme marks 30th Anniversary
One of the events I always look forward to is our farewell reception to wish good luck to our latest Chevening scholar as he or she sets off for the UK to begin their studies. The Chevening scheme is the UK Government’s flagship scholarship programme. It aims to provide postgraduate students and young professionals, identified […]
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30th September 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 22-28 September 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-22-28-september-2014 [View the story ” Canadian science news: 22-28 September 2014″ on Storify]
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30th September 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Holy See and the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth and the Holy See represent the two largest soft power networks in the world today. The Commonwealth with its 53 countries, 2.2bn citizens, and common values as expressed in its Charter focused on democracy, equitable economic development, good governance, young people, human rights, and social progress. The Holy See as the central governance of […]
30th September 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Looking over my shoulder
A couple of weeks ago, I went on an official trip to the East. Starting in Arugam Bay, we drove North all the way to Trincomalee, through Pottuvil, Oluvil, Kalmunai and Batticaloa. I met with government and political interlocutors, humanitarian workers and civil society organisations, and visited temples, beaches and hospitals. There was nothing controversial […]
30th September 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
British stars rock Grand Final crowd
It’s not unusual for the AFL Grand Final to attract a big name musician to entertain the almost 100,000 crowd. But it was the first time they’d had Tom Jones. Together with Ed Sheeran, the veteran star and one of the hottest current British talents wowed the fans before and after the game. The match […]
29th September 2014 Bangalore, India
Joining for global health
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending two days listening to top experts from UK and India discuss the challenges of drug discovery and challenges faced by patients, policy makers and researchers due to microbes that have become resistant to antibiotics. We had a large UK research delegation in Bangalore to participate in […]