17th July 2025
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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
13th April 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
My Little Piece of Heaven on Earth
by Rebecca Richardson Rebecca Richardson is a Sales and Marketing professional from London. She loves to travel and was lucky enough to live in Dubai, Santo Domingo and now Sofia. In her spare time, Rebecca writes, takes photographs and works on her website on life and travel in Bulgaria. When not busy with any of these […]
12th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Fewer Laws Would Make Parliament More Effective…and Valuable
How do you judge how effective a parliament is? In many professions the answer might be obvious: how many goals does a footballer score? How many shoes does a cobbler make? In December 2013, Parliament Chair Michael Mikov noted that 75 laws and 170 bills had been passed in the 42nd Parliament. And this in a quite disturbed parliament […]
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11th April 2014 London, UK
Human Rights, DNA and the Higgs Boson?
Yesterday, when launching the FCO’s Annual Human Rights Report, the Foreign Secretary said: “Human rights are part of the lifeblood of the Foreign Office because they are part of our national DNA – our character as a people – and because they are vital to our national interest”. This formulation of our Ministers’ view that […]
11th April 2014 London, UK
EU Staffing Unit EU Careers Month by Charlotte Sanderson
EU Staffing Unit EU CAREERS MONTH : by Charlotte Sanderson If you follow @FCOcareers on Twitter, read the Guardian Careers website online, or even cut across the King Charles Street FCO Quad on your way to work, chances are you will have come across the words EU Careers, especially over the last month. I work […]
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11th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Remember, Unite, Renew
I am writing this in Mandela Hall of the African Union in Addis Ababa, where Ministers, Ambassadors, Religious Leaders, Senior Officials and Civil Society are gathered to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide. “Kwibuka” (“to remember” in Kinyarwanda) is a global programme underway since January to ensure that the deaths of over a […]
11th April 2014 Budapest, Hungary
Hungary goes to the polls
The Hungarian elections have dominated our work-life over the last days and weeks. Before the elections we were visiting the parties and their candidates, talking about their plans and strategies. I went to a series of pre-election rallies round the country to feel the flavour of the campaign. Rallies organised by a range of parties, […]
11th April 2014 Oslo, Norway
Om menneskerettigheter og demokrati
Utenriksminister William Hague lanserte torsdag 10. april Storbritannias årlige rapport om menneskerettigheter og demokrati. Den sammenfatter informasjon fra det britiske diplomatnettverket, andre lands myndigheter, internasjonale organisasjoner og det sivile samfunn for å gi grundige situasjonsbeskrivelser og redegjøre for arbeidet britiske embetsmenn og –kvinner legger ned for å oppnå framgang og resultater. Rapporten fremhever fem temaområder […]
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11th April 2014 New Delhi, India
UNBOX-ing ‘Future Cities’
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody” – Jane Jacobs The Science and Innovation Network in India have been associated with the Unbox festival since 2012. The festival returned this year with its trademark celebration of interdisciplinary thought and work through a series […]
11th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Modern slavery: Church and State working together
“An open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge on upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity”. With these words, Pope Francis addressed the second international conference in the Vatican organised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales and the Metropolitan Police on “Combating Human Trafficking: Church […]
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11th April 2014 New Delhi, India
UK-India research & innovation partnership set to grow
Recently in Brazil, the UK Chancellor announced a new £375m fund, known as the Newton Fund, to promote economic development though science and innovation. This is intended improve the science and research capabilities of emerging powers and strengthen their ties with Britain. We asked Geeny George, Communications Manager for Research Councils UK (RCUK) India, to […]
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