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United Nations General Assembly: championing women and girls’ rights
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
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A Year Too Big for Two Suitcases: Notes From a Chevening Scholar
11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
13th March 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
A Peek into the Photo Albums
by Alan Burner Alan Burner was 3rd Secretary at the British Embassy Sofia, 1970-1972, and Deputy Head of Mission, 1984-1987. In 1964, Alan spent a fortnight holiday with the family of Sir William Harpham, Britain’s first Ambassador to Bulgaria, at his Residence in Sofia. (Before that there were British Agents, Consul-Generals, High Commissioners and Political Representatives). Alan kept […]
13th March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Critical Days For Diplomacy On Ukraine
Britain’s longest serving Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, famously looked out from his office overlooking St James’ Park in early August 1914 and, as war loomed, commented “the lamps are going out all over Europe”. I often thought of those words in August 2008, during the Russian aggression in Georgia, not least as my office, as […]
12th March 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
Be a Leader – A Chevening Experience
Today Alisson Braga, one of our Brazilian Chevening Scholars currently in the UK, will take over the blog. He attended an event organized by the FCO and HSBC bank in London last week. His words show not only how special foreign students are, but how the Chevening Scholars’ experience in the UK goes beyond the […]
12th March 2014 Washington DC, USA
Africa 2014: pessimism, optimism, or both?
Africa has had a “bad start” to 2014. Or so I keep hearing. But I wonder, how does a whole continent have a bad start? Do a billion people collectively have a bad day? What people usually mean is that Africa has experienced a lot of violence this year. No denying that. Horrific atrocities in […]
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12th March 2014 Warsaw, Poland
Say Cheese – Say Somerset – Say Cheddar
Piesek P is on the lookout for GREAT British Cheese in Poland – as he finds it he’ll let you know – just smile, Say Cheese from the town of Cheddar in the Mendip Hills The story of Cheddar can be traced back to the Romans who introduced hard cheeses to England. It was the […]
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12th March 2014 Yerevan, Armenia
Woman who leads with kindness and quiet confidence
Within the framework of the women’s month celebrations, we wanted to underline the many roles which women play in society – but particularly the role of women as leaders. Ambassador Kathy Leach met Lyudmila Petrova, head of the village Verin Dvin in Ararat Marz. They discussed several topics, from community issues to challenges for women leaders. The village […]
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12th March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
“A new era in Australia-UK relations”
That’s how Foreign Minister Julie Bishop described this week’s Australia UK Ministerial (AUKMIN) meeting in London, between Foreign and Defence Ministers from the two countries. William Hague responded by describing a “unique relationship that makes Australia one of our most important partners.” Ms Bishop opened the London Stock Exchange on Monday morning, then together with […]
11th March 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 3-9 March 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: http://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-3-9-march-2014 [View the story ” Canadian science news: 3-9 March 2014″ on Storify]
11th March 2014 London, UK
The Model United Nations in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office- by Dr Jon Yorke, Reader in Law, School of Law, Birmingham City University
On 11 February, 2014, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosted students from the BCU School of Law and the FCO Youth Inspiration Group for a Model United Nations Security Council Session. The event provided invaluable experience in Security Council member state presentations, the political intricacies of alliance building at the multilateral level for session voting, […]
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11th March 2014 Havana, Cuba
Pirates, power and pine trees
I spent much of last week in Isla de la Juventud, one of the many hundreds of islands that make up Cuba. It’s called Juventud because thousands of youths – Cuban and foreign – studied there in boarding schools in the 1980s. Out of the 100 schools that were planned to be built sixty-two were […]