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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
19th May 2014 Lima, Peru
A society without homophobia is better for all of us
By Ben Rawlings, Head of Economic & Sustainable Development at the British Embassy in Lima This 17 May marked the tenth anniversary of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The aim is to draw attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people across the world. It is an initiative […]
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19th May 2014 London, UK
Remembrance on the way to the coffee shop (what connects IHRA and R2P?)
My department moved offices last week – from rooms “in need of modernisation” on the third floor of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, down to freshly refurbished accommodation on the grand first floor. We’re more densely packed down there (“warm-desking”), but morale is high and the coffee shop closer. My new route to mid-morning latte […]
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19th May 2014 Mumbai, India
UK-India workshop on distributed manufacturing
Next month, I will be leading a 5-member delegation of manufacturing experts from India to London to attend the UK-India workshop on distributed manufacturing on June 16. This event is being jointly organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Indian National Academy of Engineering with support from the UK Science and Innovation Network India […]
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16th May 2014 London, UK
What’s life like for Crimea’s Tatars now?
With the eyes of the world focused on events in south-east Ukraine, it would have been easy to miss what has been happening in Crimea in the weeks since its illegal annexation by the Russian Federation. Take the case of Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev. He has led an extraordinary life. He was exiled as […]
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16th May 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
Strange Old World
by Lynn Bailie Lynn Bailie originates from Sunderland in the North East of England. She lives with her husband and son in a village near Burgas. Five years after buying a house in Bulgaria they moved to Bulgaria permanently. “That’s the way people do things here. Everyone who gave up their time to help were […]
16th May 2014 Madrid, Spain
17 May is IDAHOT: the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
It’s an important day for the British Government. We are working hard to uphold the rights and freedoms of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities across the world. We believe that countries must work together to address all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and to promote […]
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16th May 2014 Cape Town, South Africa
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO)
Guest blogger Andrew Carter: 17 May is an important date in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) calendar – a time for people around the world to celebrate sexual and gender diversities, and say ‘no’ to homophobic and transphobic discrimination, prejudice and violence. Working in South Africa, I am hugely impressed by the progressive constitution […]
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15th May 2014 Washington DC, USA
Making trade personal
May is World Trade Month: a time to recognize the benefits of international trade and its impact on our everyday lives. That got me thinking about my own personal history and how it has been shaped and moulded by international trade. My grandfather first came to Pennsylvania from England as a child refugee of WWII. […]
15th May 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Climate Change and the Holy See
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See. A high-level group of scientists and social scientists gathered together in early May in the Vatican, to discuss “Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility”. The aim of the conference was to bring both disciplines […]
14th May 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Leadership: Delegate or Die
We all face information-overload. How can the leaders of organisations cope with the mass of emails, phone calls, meetings, video-conferences and other demands on their time? And how can we manage our time while also making sure that we deliver results? The answer is through delegation: by pushing decision-making and implementation down to people who […]