Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

30th September 2013 Vientiane, Laos

Philip Malone

by Philip Malone

Ambassador to Lao PDR

Laos through my eyes – Tessa Bunney

This article is part of a series of guest blogs contributed by Brits who have lived and worked in Laos, or who have other interesting links to Laos. As a photographer, I have a particular interest in different landscapes and the way they are shaped by human activity.  Working closely with communities and individuals, my work explores […]

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29th September 2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Climate again

On Friday the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) published the first part of their fifth Assessment Report on climate change. The Assessment Reports are a summary of the best available scientific knowledge, and are each divided into three parts: on the physical science basis; on impacts of climate change, vulnerabilities, and means of […]

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28th September 2013 Ottawa, Canada

Dementia: A Global Challenge

September 2013 marks the second World Alzheimer’s Month, reflecting the growing urgency and concern over the health, social and economic burden of the disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a common form of dementia. Today, it is estimated that over 35 million people worldwide currently live with the condition, and this number is expected to double by […]

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27th September 2013

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Being Connected: The Holy See and Communications

I suspect that until quite recently, not many people would have mentioned the Vatican in the same breath as the giants of global communications. Innovators like the BBC, global news operations like CNN, or social media like Facebook or Twitter. The Holy See speaks to us about tradition, the faith, the power of the pulpit. […]

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27th September 2013

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by Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Aiming for longer term growth: the UK’s Industrial Strategy

When our Business Minister, Vince Cable, was here this week, he talked a lot about the UK’s Industrial Strategy. As he noted, to some ears this sounds rather old-fashioned. In fact it’s the opposite, it’s an attempt to create long term plans to tackle some of the sources of recent economic weakness and instability in […]

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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 Singapore

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by Tom Crawley

Southeast Asia Science and Innovation Team

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

Jane Marriott, British Ambassador to Yemen

by Jane Marriott

British Ambassador to 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 […]

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