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
26th September 2013 London, UK
Thunderclap: Now is the #TimeToAct
Sexual violence is used in conflict as a way to humiliate and destroy communities. A culture of impunity means that millions of women, children and men who have survived sexual attacks in war rarely see any form of justice, and perpetrators are able to commit these horrific crimes without fear of any consequences. To address […]
26th September 2013 Toronto, Canada
Congratulations to the 2013 UK-Canada CDA awardees!
We had such excellent outcomes from our UK-Canada Collaboration Development Awards (CDAs) in 2012 that we decided to run them again this year (here’s the announcement). We got 86 applications, and were able to fund 11 based on their ability to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes for Canada and the UK. It was a very strong […]
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26th September 2013 New Delhi, India
Exploring innovations in public private partnerships
Last week I was at a dinner with one of the professors from the University of Cambridge. Over dessert, he said something to me that changed the way I looked at the role of ‘Universities’ in the Innovation ecosystem. He told me about how he and some of his colleagues not only teach their students […]
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26th September 2013 Singapore
Kick starting collaboration with Indonesia
Eating tempeh, a fermented soybean cake, could reduce the risk of developing dementia. I learnt this and other interesting facts at the UK-Indonesia Science and Innovation Conference in Jakarta last week. In addition to changing my own diet, this event provided a valuable guide to future directions for UK-Indonesia research collaboration, served to clarify the […]
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25th September 2013 Sana’a, Yemen
أصدقاء اليمن على المستوى الدولي
هناك حدثان مهمان لليمن هذا الأسبوع خارج حدود هذا البلد. كلاهما يجري في نيويورك. الأول هو مؤتمر أصدقاء اليمن يوم الأربعاء 25 سبتمبر، والثاني مداولة بشأن اليمن في مجلس الأمن التابع للأمم المتحدة (مجلس الأمن الدولي) يوم الجمعة 27 سبتمبر. كلاهما فرصة ممتازة لليمن ليُظهر للعالم مما هو مصنوع. إنها فرصة للسياسيين في اليمن ليثبتوا […]
25th September 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK Life Science Goes On Tour
For the fifth consecutive year the UKTI team in Sweden organised a R&D Drug Development tour which brought together 16 UK research companies with players from the Swedish life science sector. This year, the tour moved away from Stockholm and emphasised other life science clusters such as the newly formed Medicon Village in Lund and […]
24th September 2013 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 16-22 September 2013
[View the story “Canadian science news: 16-22 September 2013” on Storify]
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24th September 2013 Sana’a, Yemen
Yemen’s International Friends
There are two significant events for Yemen this week outside the borders of this country. Both take place in New York. The first is the Friends of Yemen conference on Wednesday 25 September; the second a discussion on Yemen in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday 27September. Both are excellent opportunities for Yemen […]
23rd September 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
Why this UNGA matters for Lebanon (and all of us)
Every year, New York hosts the diplomatic equivalent of the World Cup. As with the football, there is usually some unruly behaviour, although with Messrs Chavez, Gadhafi and Ahmadinejad no longer on the pitch, this now looks less likely. Some showboating is guaranteed, as global leaders compete for attention – we once arranged a timely […]
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23rd September 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Growth and trade on the agenda
Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, arrives today for a 2-day programme. How to secure growth, trade and reform in Europe is on his agenda. The UK and Sweden are close European partners: like-minded on many issues, including a shared ambition to deepen and strengthen the Single Market and extend […]