17th July 2025
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
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
14th July 2014 London, UK
A digital campaign like no other: supporting the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative
This is the first in a series of 3 blog posts about the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. See blog 2 and blog 3. In June the former Foreign Secretary and Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, co-chaired a 4 day Global Summit to End Sexual Violence […]
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14th July 2014 London, UK
Digital switchover – why the FCO Press Office is now the Media Office
Six months ago the Foreign Office had a digital news manager responsible for publishing Foreign Office press releases and speeches on gov.uk, tweeting out our news announcements, live tweeting Ministerial speeches and statements to Parliament and commissioning multimedia like vines, video and pictures to support our messaging. Sitting in another room was the Press Office, […]
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14th July 2014 Mumbai, India
UK’s capabilities in additive manufacturing and 3D printing
Last week (July 7-10), I led a 7-member Indian delegation of manufacturing experts from the academia and industry to the UK for meetings and site visits in Nottingham, London, and Coventry. I collaborated with my colleague, Leena Arora, to deliver this event, which was the third in the series of manufacturing-themed workshops that I’ll be […]
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14th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
NATO WALES SUMMIT
A Guest Blog by Chargé d’Affaires Greg Quinn On 4 and 5 September 2014 the NATO Wales Summit will take place in Newport, Wales. This will be the largest ever gathering of international leaders to take place in the UK. Leaders, senior Ministers and Defence Chiefs from around 60 countries are expected to attend, along […]
14th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Turkey: Cradle of Civilisation(s)
The sculptures are exquisite. Graceful birds and pouncing animals reminiscent of ancient Egypt are carved onto Stonehenge-sized stone monoliths. But this artwork dates from 6,000 years before the pyramids – or Stonehenge. Welcome to Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic site about 15 km from Şanlıurfa in south-eastern Turkey. I’ve blogged before about the astonishing history and archaeology […]
13th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF CHEVENING SCHOLARSHIPS
This week I hosted former Ethiopian scholars at the British Residence to mark the 30th Anniversary of the #British Government’s flagship #Chevening Scholarship programme. The Chevening Scholarships are the #UK government’s global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (#FCO) and partner organisations. The programme targets outstanding scholars with leadership potential from around […]
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11th July 2014 Toronto, Canada
Antimicrobial resistance: The greatest issue of our time?
The 2014 Longitude Prize, a £10 million fund dedicated to solving one of the greatest challenges of our time, was recently assigned to antibiotics. Why is this issue so significant, and what is the UK doing about it? Antibiotics are one of the finest achievements of modern medicine, killing the bacteria and other microorganisms that […]
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11th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Countering ‘the globalisation of indifference’
Pope Francis rightly calls on the rich to do more to ensure equity for the poor. We must listen to the counsel of those on the periphery, he tells us. And we should be generous in our solidarity – a word, he told his audience on a recent trip to the Italian region of Molise, […]
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11th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Museum Pieces
Lunch at the British Museum with its Director Neil MacGregor OM. We ate under the roof of the Great Court, the splendid space which fuses old and new so sympathetically. I have very fond memories of the BM, as I used to work in the historical Reading Room when I was studying Japanese at the […]
10th July 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
Creativity and the work of British consulates – pubs, lingerie and more! Guest blog by Richard Turner
When you think of the work of diplomatic missions, you might think it is all political and consular work. You would be wrong. The largest amount of work is supporting British business connections and partnerships with Brazil. The Creative Industries sector is one of the most successful of the UK’s economy , having exported more […]
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