17th July 2025
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
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
15th December 2013 Chennai, India
Farewell Madiba
It’s been clear for a while that Mandela’s life was drawing inexorably to a gentle and dignified close. But it’s sad nonetheless. I can’t pretend that I ever met him, although I stood about 2 yards way when he visited the FCO. But he influenced my life massively. I knew little about the horror of […]
14th December 2013 Havana, Cuba
Crank it up and dance in Matanzas!
The Sauto Theatre in Matanzas is apparently one of only three theatres in the world which can be transformed into a dancehall with the turn of a crank. Normally the audience sits below the stage but when the chairs are removed and the floor is raised, the stage and auditorium become one large space for dancing salsa or the danzón. Unfortunately not many visitors can see […]
14th December 2013 Sana’a, Yemen
موقعة 'ويستجيت' اليمنية
في مساء الأربعاء، حبس اليمنيين وأصدقائهم من انحاء العالم أنفاسهم رعبا بينما كنا نرى مشاهد كاميرات المراقبة من داخل مستشفى العرضي. لاولائك (خارج اليمن) الذين قد لا يعلمون خلفية الموضوع، ففي الخامس من ديسمبر ٢٠١٣، قامت مجموعة من الانتحاريين ومسلحين يضعون الزي العسكري بهجوم على مستشفى ملحق بوزارة الدفاع اليمنية. هجوم حمل كل بصمات القاعدة […]
14th December 2013 Sana’a, Yemen
Yemen’s Westgate
On Wednesday night, Yemenis and their international friends drew a collective breath of horror as we saw the CCTV footage from inside the Urdhi hospital. For those (outside Yemen) who may not know the background: on 5 December 2013 a team of suicide bombers and gunmen in military uniforms launched an attack on a hospital […]
13th December 2013 Budapest, Hungary
A successful experiment
Guest blog by Peter Krekó, Director of Political Capital Institute and co-chair of EU RAN PREVENT. Two weeks ago, the Embassy of the UK hosted a conference organised by Political Capital and Szombat on scapegoating ideologies, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theories and the counter-narratives. As one of the organisers, I’ll try to resist the temptation to praise […]
13th December 2013 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Keeping Brunei Beaches Clean and Enjoyable
It’s Saturday morning and I’m thinking about the beach. I’m not actually on a beach, nor even planning to go to one. In fact, I’m sitting in a conference room in the middle of Bandar Seri Begawan. The meeting I’m at though is about Keeping Brunei Beaches Clean and Enjoyable. It’s an inaugural international roundtable […]
Read more on Keeping Brunei Beaches Clean and Enjoyable | Reply
11th December 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK supporting Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala
The following is a guest blog by our new Human Rights and Projects Officer, Motsabi Rooper. This Monday, as part of our marking of Human Rights Day 2013, we took part in the EU’s Annual Human Rights Defenders Meeting. During the event we met with a diverse range of Guatemalan Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) – […]
Read more on UK supporting Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala | Reply
11th December 2013 New York, USA
Philadelphia & London: Cities of Revolution
Sometimes it takes seeing your own national customs through the eyes of another to recognise their strangeness. I was honoured to join Mayor Michael A. Nutter of Philadelphia on his trade delegation to London at the start of November, and one night, as we were having dinner at a riverside restaurant, there was a brilliant […]
Read more on Philadelphia & London: Cities of Revolution | Reply
10th December 2013 Budapest, Hungary
Human Rights Day 2013
Guest blog by Deputy Head of Mission Theresa Bubbear The UN General Assembly designated 10 December Human Rights Day in 1950. This is an important day for the UK as a member of the UN Human Rights Coucil and a global champion of human rights, which underpin prosperity and security. We mark the occasion at home and […]
10th December 2013 Brasilia, Brazil
Tackling violence against women and girls
The following is a guest blog by Louise de Sousa, Head of the Foreign Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Department. I’m looking forward to arriving in Brazil tomorrow, the day after International Human Rights Day, for my first visit to discuss human rights issues since I left the Embassy after three happy years in 1997. […]
Read more on Tackling violence against women and girls | Reply