Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

1st September 2014

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

The 37th Governor and the 1st Governor

HE Dame Marie Bashir, New South Wales’ 37th Governor, reflected warmly on her first predecessor, Admiral Arthur Philip, when she hosted a glittering reception at Government House in Sydney on the 200th anniversary of his death on 31 August. She spoke of the debt that modern Australia owes its founding father. She also commended his personal qualities: […]

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29th August 2014 London, UK

Mapping the online conversation of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict

Maps of the online landscape can provide fascinating insights into how they are connected and how they interact. In my last blog I looked at a few of our Ambassadors’ accounts and found some of the communities that existed amongst their followers. This blog looks at the way maps of the online conversation can help […]

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29th August 2014

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

PM Abbott hails indigenous scholars bound for Oxford

“Even the stones seem to speak to you,” said Tony Abbott, describing Oxford’s ancient college buildings to this year’s Charlie Perkins/Chevening scholars. This sense of place would be very familiar to indigenous people. The Prime Minister takes a very close interest in indigenous matters. And Oxford, where he spent two very happy years as a […]

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29th August 2014 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

4 days and 99 Friends from the Commonwealth

Commonwealth Youth Leaders with the 2014 Commonwealth Games Mascot

Our guest blogger this week is Izzah Jomari from the Brunei Economic Dvelopment Board who was nominated for the 33Fifty programme. Read her blog about her unique Commonwealth youth leaders experience. As part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy, a leadership programme was organized for Commonwealth youth leaders aged between 18 to 25. The programme was […]

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28th August 2014

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by Sarah Dickson

Ambassador to Guatemala (June 2012 - June 2015)

Ser o no ser

Viendo Hamlet a la sombra de las ruinas de Copan en Honduras o en la cima de una montaña sobre Antigua Guatemala es una maravillosa y extremadamente inusual experiencia. También se sintió bien haber tenido el tour de Shakespeare en el 450º aniversario de su nacimiento. Las reacciones locales para el tour mundial de 2 […]

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28th August 2014

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by Sarah Dickson

Ambassador to Guatemala (June 2012 - June 2015)

To be or not to be

Watching Hamlet in the shadow of the ruins of Copan in Honduras or on the top of a hill above Antigua Guatemala is a wonderful, if extremely unusual, experience. It also felt good to be having a Shakespeare tour in the 450th anniversary of his birth. The local reactions to the Globe Theatre’s global 2 […]

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28th August 2014

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Fantastic prizes – fully-paid trips to London for entrepreneurs

I recently wrote about our quest to find the most brilliant Turkish entrepreneurs and invite them to visit London – at our expense. It’s an incredible offer.  Round-trip tickets.  Paid accommodation and meals.  Guided tours.  Visits to venture capitalists. To be honest, we copied it from our colleagues in the British Consulate-General in New York, who have […]

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27th August 2014

Mark Kent, the British Ambassador to Thailand

by Mark Kent

British Ambassador to Argentina

Beginning blogging again

I am starting to write a blog again after an absence of nearly 4 years. I used to write when I was Ambassador to Vietnam. Since then I moved to using Twitter (@KentBKK). Now I will try to juggle both. In this first post, I will try to give a bit of background about myself. […]

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27th August 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

All in the family

As we look forward to the “new term” at the Vatican and at Westminster, it seems that the buzzword this autumn will be “family”. There is always a great deal of public discussion about the future of the family. Quite rightly, in my view, as it is arguably the most important social institution underpinning our […]

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