9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
26th February 2026
Different Memories, Shared Futures: Why Inclusive Remembrance Matters for Serbia and the Region
22nd December 2025
Continuing to grow the global alliance for women and girls
16th June 2014 British High Commission, Kingston, Jamaica
“Go de R**s to sleep…” & other memories of Calabash
I have been to literary festivals in the UK – usually in rain soaked parts of England. This was my first time at Calabash. Jamaica’s biannual literary event is more than a festival. And also less. It is two and a half days of readings, interviews and performances by Caribbean and non-Caribbean writers set against […]
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16th June 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Bursting at the Seams
The Human Rights Council is getting too big for its trousers. I know how this feels as I have had to buy a new more spacious suit recently. June sessions used to start slowly, simmer in the second week and come nicely to the boil in week three. But this year week one has begun […]
13th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Celebrating the Queen’s Birthday with the Governor General
Australia’s new Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, is clearly enjoying his role. He gave a very warm speech at a dinner in Canberra last night, hosted by the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Australia Britain Society (of which I am the Patron) to celebrate the birthday of HM The Queen. The Governor General used the […]
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12th June 2014 Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa does its bit to mark this week’s Global Summit!
If you’re in Ottawa and don’t know what this means, you clearly weren’t downtown last night. That’s when we lit up the façade of the High Commission on Elgin in red to show our solidarity with the work of over 1,000 people in London at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict…
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12th June 2014 Jerusalem, Israel
Welcome to my new blog!
Welcome to my new blog! Some of you will remember me from my time as Ambassador in South Sudan. Others will be meeting me for the first time. I have been in Jerusalem for five months and would like to start a conversation with you about this fascinating part of the world. My first five […]
12th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ending Sexual Violence as a Tool of War
Sexual violence committed in war zones has been not only an abomination against humanity but a growing problem. Long seen as an inevitable consequence of a breakdown of law and order and often regarded as a ‘lesser crime’, it is increasingly being used as a means of war to humiliate and devastate communities belonging to the […]
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12th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
#TimeToAct – emblazoned across the Australian sky
I’m not a fan of hot air. Although when you’re floating in a balloon over Australia’s capital city Canberra, and it’s the only thing keeping you up there, you’re rather glad of it. The balloon was emblazoned with the hashtag #TimeToAct. We were drawing attention to the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict, […]
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12th June 2014 London, UK
Now it is #TimeToAct
The use of sexual violence in war is one of the great injustices of our lifetime. It is hard to document, let alone investigate. Perpetrators do not discriminate, because it’s not about sex, but violence, terror, power and control. When rape is committed during conflict, it has often been seen as an inevitable part of […]
11th June 2014 Paris, France
It’s #TimeToAct
We’ve just had an extraordinary few days here with the State Visit of Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh – but of course there’s a lot else happening in the world as well. I talked before about my foreign minister William Hague’s initiative on preventing sexual violence in conflict. Well, the big […]
11th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
#TimeToAct: Catholics building a better future
As the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict unfolds, I am delighted to give voice in my blog to a story from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last week at Vatican Radio, a panel discussion showed that religious networks have a huge role to play to end the use of rape as a […]
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