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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
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International Day of Women in Diplomacy: UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls visit to Geneva
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The UN Commission on the Status of Women: My first visit as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
17th February 2014 New Delhi, India
North Pole, South Pole and the Third Pole!
In elementary Geography we are taught that there are two poles on Earth – one in the Arctic and the other in the Antarctic, but that’s not true! Did you know that there is also a Third Pole? The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region is the Earth’s third Pole as it’s the storehouse of the third largest […]
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17th February 2014 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Education UK Exhibition 2014, ‘Where Great Journeys Begin’
Walking around the Education UK Exhibition with my British Council colleagues, there was a real buzz in the air. Hundreds of prospective students were firing questions at representatives from 43 British universities and educational institutions. It’s our flagship education event of the year. A one stop shop to get answers about studying and living in […]
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14th February 2014 Havana, Cuba
Cuba’s new foreign investment law
Cuba’s National Assembly is due to hold an ‘extraordinary session’ in March when a new law on foreign investment will be approved. Investors around the world, including perhaps some in the US given recent debate there, will be interested in seeing what the law says and whether it provides them with a good framework for […]
14th February 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canada-UK Joint Declaration refreshed
The UK’s Foreign Secretary William Hague and Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird met in London ahead of the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, and refreshed the UK-Canada Joint Declaration. We reported on the original Joint Declaration and Joint Innovation Statement in previous posts, and have been working hard over the past couple […]
14th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Spending Review: a hot topic in Italy
Spending Review often seems a very dry and technical subject. But bear with me. It really matters. Hardly a day goes by in Italy without the front pages of the national newspapers or headline news discussing the government’s intention to save €32bn over three years through a Spending Review led by Commissioner Carlo Cottarelli. Soon […]
13th February 2014 Bucharest, Romania
I am volunteer
Today’s guest blogger is one of our former embassy colleagues and a dear friend, Cosmina Grigore, who now volunteers for Little People Romania. This year, the embassy decided to support their campaign to mark the International Day Against Cancer (4 Feb) and the International Childhood Cancer Day (15 Feb). Read Cosmina’s story: I’ve always wanted […]
13th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The new Parliamentary year in Canberra
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop attended a reception I hosted last night to welcome new Members of Parliament to Canberra, at the start of the Parliamentary year following the long Christmas/Summer break. With huge British investments here (we’re the second largest foreign investor), 1.1 million Brits living in Australia, 600,000 visiting each year and a million […]
11th February 2014 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Taking steps to combat human trafficking
This is a guest blog by Deputy British High Commissioner to Brunei Sunny Ahmed about “The Promotion of Access to Justice for Female Victims of Violence in Trafficking Cases” workshop held from 3 to 5 February that resulted in the production of gender sensitive guidelines on comprehensive support for women who are trafficked. Last week […]
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11th February 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 3-9 February 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: http://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-3-9-february-2014 [View the story ” Canadian science news: 3-9 February 2014″ on Storify]
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11th February 2014 Budapest, Hungary
GB United – Videoton Friendly Football Match
Guest Blog by Ben Luckock, Head of Policy Team at British Embassy Budapest Just over sixty years ago Hungary beat England 6-3 at Wembley. For England, the defeat led to a fundamental review of antiquated training and tactics and the adoption of more continental methods. Sir Bobby Robson said of the game: “We saw a […]
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