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
9th December 2013 Paris, France
UK air transport assistance to France for Central African Republic
France has taken the decision to increase its force levels in the Central African Republic to deal with the awful outbreak of killing between the communities there. Personally I have had a lot of experience over the years of dealing with this kind of chaos and violence, I think of the Balkans for example.
Read more on UK air transport assistance to France for Central African Republic | Reply (1)
9th December 2013 Brasilia, Brazil
Impunity: the global obstacle in the fight against gender violence
When I first heard of the British Government campaign to fight sexual violence in areas of conflict – Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, I had no idea how big the problem was. The initiative showed me that approximately 50 thousand women were sexually assaulted in the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Same period when between 300 […]
Read more on Impunity: the global obstacle in the fight against gender violence | Reply
6th December 2013 Mogadishu, Somalia
Empowering women to take control
As part of our support to the 16 days of activism campaign, I have invited some our partners to share their stories. The Health Consortium is made up of a partnership between health authorities and Population Services International (PSI), Tropical Health Education Trust (THET), Health Poverty Action, Save the Children UK, and Trocaire. From 2010 […]
5th December 2013 Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa to Vancouver Roadie! With a side of Canada-UK science…
Hi – me again! This time writing from the British Consulate-General in Vancouver. For those who keep up with our blog, I was previously working at the British High Commission in Ottawa as Science and Innovation Officer. With Nicole back in her seat as team lead in Ottawa, I moved out West to take up […]
Read more on Ottawa to Vancouver Roadie! With a side of Canada-UK science… | Reply (2)
4th December 2013 USA
UK Autumn Statement
Tomorrow, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer will deliver the UK government’s Autumn Statement. We’re often asked what the Autumn Statement is and how it differs to the Budget? The Budget (usually held in the early Spring) comes at the start of the UK’s fiscal year, which runs from April to March. Budgets set the […]
4th December 2013 Ottawa, Canada
Ground Control to Major Tim – What does Canadian Col Chris Hadfield recommend that UK astronaut Tim Peake bring with him to space?
Col Chris Hadfield has been busy since returning to planet Earth. He has been touring Canada promoting his new book and answering the public’s inexhaustible questions about life in space. On November 17th, at Science World in Vancouver, Chris was taking questions from both the curious public and curious astronauts! In this unique UK-Canada space […]
Read more on Ground Control to Major Tim – What does Canadian Col Chris Hadfield recommend that UK astronaut Tim Peake bring with him to space? | Reply (1)
4th December 2013 Brasilia, Brazil
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 […]
Read more on Rio de Janeiro discusses international security | Reply
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 […]
4th December 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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 […]
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 […]
Read more on Typhoon Yolanda and the FCO’s Rapid Deployment Teams | Reply