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
10th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
We Should Be Proud of Our History, Not Prisoners of It
Today, I am travelling to Obstina Thompson in Svoge Municipality, in the beautiful Iskar Gorge. I am taking part in a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the death of Major Frank Thompson, executed by the forces of the wartime, pro-Nazi government. Thompson was a member of the British Communist Party. The partisans are of […]
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10th June 2014 Windhoek, Namibia
#Timetoact on Sexual Violence
Today sees the start of a ground-breaking summit in London to address the continuing scourge of sexual violence in conflict. More than 1,200 delegates, including government officials, international organisations, civil society and international experts are expected to attend the event to help spearhead growing international momentum to halt the use of rape and sexual violence […]
10th June 2014 Athens, Greece
Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict
During the course of this week (10-13 June), the British Government will host in London a Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. This is our biggest and most important international event for some time, and is the culmination of two years of hard work with international partners. We want Governments, civil society and […]
10th June 2014 Dublin, Ireland
PSVI Global Summit in London – Time To Act
In May 2012, British Foreign Secretary William Hague launched the “Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative” or “PSVI” In short, PSVI is about preventing the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon in conflict. In so many conflict situations, it affects not only large numbers of women, but also men and children. However, the perpetrators of […]
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9th June 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
Bulgaria of My Childhood – The Poetry of Those Years
by Helen Dexter (nee Bartlett) Helen Dexter grew up in Bulgaria. Her parents came in the country in 1955 on a two-year contract to work as English teachers, but have stayed for 11 years. Helen has had a very strong connection with Bulgaria since then. She speaks fluent Bulgarian and returned to Bulgaria with her husband Phil Dexter, […]
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8th June 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
#TimeToAct
Rape and sexual violence has been a part of war as far back as we know. It occurs both as a consequence of conflict but is also used as a weapon in itself. It is civilians (all sexes and ages) who suffer the most . We do not think this is inevitable. It’s time to […]
6th June 2014 Kingston, Jamaica
The Challenge of Change
Change is rarely easy. It challenges our normal basic human preference for continuity, for things to ‘remain the same’, to be predictable, to be stable. The psychology of change has been studied extensively and it is acknowledged that when change is enforced (and not desired) it is usual for people to go through ‘stages’ ranging […]
6th June 2014 Havana, Cuba
Let’s end this horror now
Before I joined the Foreign Office I spent many years working for humanitarian NGOs in central Africa – Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo – where I experienced first-hand the horrors of war and the devastation it can bring to communities, families and individuals. In those conflicts and others, one of the most […]
5th June 2014 Havana, Cuba
An Embassy for all of Cuba
Next week the British Embassy is moving. We’re off to Eastern Cuba for a full week of activities and meetings, events and project visits. Thirteen of us will travel, including staff from the Embassy’s consular, commercial and political sections and the Director of the British Council, Julian Baker. We’ll be visiting Holguin, Santiago and Guantanamo and […]
5th June 2014 Bucharest, Romania
Great Britons in Romania: Victor Watkins, Wildlife Advisor, World Society for the Prevention of Animals
Our new post in the ‘Great Britons in Romania’ is authored by Peter Thomas, the head of the political section in the embassy. The post is dedicated to a Briton who has made an important contribution to conserving Romania’s wildlife heritage. In May, I had the pleasure of representing the British Embassy at the official […]
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