Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

4th December 2013 Brasilia, Brazil

by Thais Nogueira

Political Assistant

Rio de Janeiro discusses international security

  Last Friday (29), I had the opportunity to return to Rio de Janeiro, where I lived for almost 8 years, to participate in the X International Security Conference of the Fort of Copacabana, an initiative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation-KAS and the Brazilian Center for International Relations-CEBRI, supported by the Delegation of the European […]

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4th December 2013 Lima, Peru

Teaching men to respect women

By Lic. José Villalobos, specialist in masculinities and Executive Director of the NGO Grupo Vigencia (Effectiveness Group) and Project Coordinator of “Municipal Network of Male Promoters against Domestic and Sexual Violence,” carried by the Municipality of Carmen de la Legua Reynoso-Callao and sponsored by the British Embassy in Lima. With the technical and financial sponsorship […]

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4th December 2013

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Catholic numbers and identities

We all know the phrase about lies, damned lies and statistics. I often think this is particularly applicable when trying to identify and quantify people’s religious identity. How do we count the number of Anglicans, Catholics or Muslims? For Christians, is it based on baptism, whether they go to church every week, or what they […]

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4th December 2013 London, UK

Typhoon Yolanda and the FCO’s Rapid Deployment Teams

Two weeks ago, Mike Taylor led a Foreign Office Rapid Deployment Team (RDTs– we love our jargon!) from London to help locate British nationals affected by Typhoon Yolanda – or Haiyan –  in the Philippines.  Our RDTs are always on call to help deal with crises affecting British nationals around the world.  There are four […]

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4th December 2013 Mumbai, India

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by Vijay Iyer

Senior Science & Innovation Adviser

Interview with the Director of the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York

I caught up with Prof. James Clark, from the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (GCCE) in York, when he was in New Delhi earlier this week (December 2-3, 2013). He was here to participate in the International Workshop on Green Initiatives in Energy, Environment and Health (IWGIEEH) jointly organised by the Green Chemistry Network Centre, […]

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4th December 2013

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by Peter Millett

Ambassador to Libya, Tripoli

Downton Abbey Comes to Za’atri

ميشيل دوكري في مخيم الزعتري للاجئين السوريين. تصوير: آبي ترايلور - سميث | أوكسفام

What does the star of a “posh soap” have to do with a refugee camp in Jordan? A lot. Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary in the popular British drama series Downton Abbey visited Za’atri last month. In the show she plays an aloof and disdainful aristocrat; in reality she is extremely sensitive and anxious […]

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3rd December 2013

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by Carolyn Browne

Former ambassador to Kazakhstan

A pie for shepherds

“And, most of all, the thing I liked about my time in England was shepherd’s pie!”  She beamed at me as we stood in the middle of the crowded hall in Almaty three weeks ago, surrounded by scurrying students clutching clipboards and asking probing questions of the 40 or so UK universities and colleges who […]

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3rd December 2013

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by Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

A GREAT British Science Day at Konserthuset this Friday

This Friday, December 6 at Konserthuset, the British Embassy in Stockholm will host a series of exciting events under the banner “Research & Innovation is GREAT”. We have world class scientists, entrepreneurs and experts talking about invention, discovery and innovation. It should be fascinating and fun. We’d love you to be part of it. You […]

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3rd December 2013

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

Refuge

There is limited, reliable data on it. It takes many forms, and isn’t necessarily physical.  And it’s closer to us than we think. It’s also easy to talk about, but very difficult to deal with. I’m referring to gender violence, or as we tend to know it in Britain:  domestic violence. This is the violence […]

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