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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
15th July 2025
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
13th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Una muestra del Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas en Honduras
El 9 de agosto es el Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas, cuando alrededor del mundo se celebra la historia, cultura y derechos de los pueblos indígenas. La ONU lo proclamó así para abogar por la no discriminación e inclusión de los pueblos originarios en procesos legislativos en todos los niveles. En Guatemala hay más […]
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13th August 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
اصنعوا السلام، لا الحرب
قال الفيلسوف الاسباني جورج سانتايانا “أولائك الذين لا يستطيعون تذكر الماضي يُحكم عليهم بتكراره”. لدى اليمنيين ذاكرة ممتازة ومع هذا فأن دورات العنف، والثأر والسلطة مستمرة. كما رأينا في مؤتمر الحوار الوطني غالبية الشعب اليمني يريدون السلام والاستقرار والحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية الأساسية. وقد أعطت مخرجات مؤتمر الحوار الوطني اليمنيين خارطة الطريق للوصول لهذا الهدف بالرغم […]
13th August 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
MAKE PEACE, NOT WAR
Spanish philosopher George Santayana said that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Yemenis have very good memories and yet the cycles of violence, revenge and power continue. As we saw in the National Dialogue, most Yemenis want peace, stability and basic economic and social rights. The NDC outcomes gave Yemen a plan to get […]
13th August 2014 New Delhi, India
‘IISc is very keen on expanding its network’
This month, Professor Balaram stepped down as Director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) after nearly a decade at the helm. He was also recently in the UK to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of York, recognising his enormous contributions to science. I caught up with him, just prior to his departure […]
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13th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Death to the Death Penalty?
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See On 13 August 1964, Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans made British judicial history, although not in a way they would have appreciated. They were the last people executed in the United Kingdom. Throughout the […]
13th August 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
Scarlet Pimpernel and the Chevening scholars
“They seek them here, they seek them there Those Brits they seek them everywhere, Be they in Manaus, Recife or Sao Paulo Those Chevening scholars are the key to tomorrow” *Inspired by the Scarlet Pimpernel – click here to discover this gem of British Culture Funding for Chevening in Brazil will triple from 2015. As […]
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13th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Dr Who mania hits Sydney
I no longer cower behind the sofa at the opening bars of the Dr Who theme tune, but it still summons up something of the frisson I remember from Saturday nights in my childhood. Interestingly, I just learned that the melody was composed by an Australian, Ron Grainer, for the first series back in 1963. […]
12th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Chamusca a la Británica……
Para conmemorar el Día Internacional de la Juventud, he invitado a Paúl Menchú, Secretario General de ACJ-YMCA Guatemala, a que comparta la maravillosa experiencia que tuvimos en marzo de este año, en la cual compartimos con 300 jóvenes de diferentes centros educativos de Retalhuleu. ACJ-YMCA es una asociación que se fundó en 1964 y desde […]
12th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
British Chamusca….
To commemorate the International Youth Day I have invited Paúl Manchú, ACJ-YMCA General Secretary, to share with us the wonderful experience we had last March with 300 young people from different schools in Retalhuleu. ACJ-YMCA is an NGO founded in 1964, since then has worked with children and teenagers to help them to achieve their […]
12th August 2014 Yerevan, Armenia
NATO in a nutshell: interview with Defence Attache Lt-Col Nick Wilkes
Ahead of the NATO Summit, to be hosted by the UK this year on September 4-5 in the beautiful, mountainous country of Wales, we are highlighting some of the human stories behind NATO and the UK armed forces. Our first ‘NATO in a nutshell’ interviewee is Lt-Col Nick Wilkes, the UK’s Defence Attache for the […]
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