8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
17th October 2024
OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
11th October 2024
Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
18th April 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
My Parents Lived in Bulgaria in the 60s
by Denise Holt After David Holt’s story for #100UKBG from earlier this week, today – a few days before Easter – we look at his wife Denise’s most vivid memory of Bulgaria – an Easter service at Alexander Nevski Cathedral. Dame Denise Holt is a Non Executive Director on the boards of HSBC Bank. A former career diplomat, Denise was […]
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17th April 2014 London, UK
Building an audience for a Pop-Up Consulate
Have you ever tried planning a party in a city where you don’t know anyone? Yes, it doesn’t sound easy. Last month we took on a comparable task when we decided to follow in the footsteps of our colleagues in Chicago and host a British Pop-up Consulate in Halifax. One of the main reasons for […]
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17th April 2014 Washington DC, USA
Incentivizing Innovation in #Development
I’ve been getting into Twitter in the last couple of weeks. I know I’m only five years later than everyone else, but I’m loving the new insights and the quirkiness of it all. Two things were “trending” on my Twitter timeline recently that, seemingly unrelated, made me reflect on the incentives shaping donor effectiveness. The […]
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17th April 2014 London, UK
Visiting St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow by Nigel Baker, HM Ambassador to the Holy See
As Ambassador to the Holy See, I am often asked to speak about my work. The requests have tripled, though, since Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, such is the global interest in his Pontificate. I was delighted to receive a request to give one of the traditional evening Lent 2014 Gonzaga lectures at […]
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17th April 2014 London, UK
More than 90 % of visa applications are are successful
It’s the time of year when many Turkish travelers are planning their summer holiday. You won’t be surprised to hear that I hope many of you will choose the UK. Whether it’s for the buzz of one of the world’s great capital cities, the rich and varied history, the tolerance and diversity of its people […]
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17th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Dedicated to the needs of others
At his General Audience on 16 April, Pope Francis urged the large crowd of pilgrims present to dedicate Holy Week to learning about the needs of others, especially those out of sight, “whom we often forget, who need our comprehension, consolation and help.” This is a message that applies as much to governments as individuals, […]
17th April 2014 London, UK
FCO outreach – Model UN Development Programme, Istanbul, Turkey by Nour Sidawi
We are all inhabitants of this planet. No matter what language we speak, colour we are, or background we are from, we all have a duty, for the sake of mankind, to lend a hand to make a change for the better. The power to make a change lies within each and every one of […]
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17th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Beautiful Britain: My Photos of Lundy Island
I don’t usually write about my holidays in this blog, and I won’t now. But I’ve written recently about how beautiful Britain is and about the English paradise which is Lundy Island (my video on YouTube, which is unfortunately banned in Turkey at present). Since I have just visited Lundy Island again on holiday, it’s a good excuse to […]
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17th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
New Visa Applications Centre in Sydney opens
I formally opened the new Visa Applications Centre (VAC) in Sydney today. It’s actually been operating since 17 March 2014, along with new VACs in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra. The change is part of a global project by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to outsource these arrangements. A million Australians visit the UK each […]
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17th April 2014 Bangalore, India
On a space journey in the UK – 1
Last month I travelled to the UK visiting several institutes and meeting stakeholders. I was keen to explore developments in space science and technology in the UK for possible collaborations with India and this brought me to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Space (RAL Space) in Harwell. The RAL Space is co-located with the other large […]