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
22nd July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Extraordinario Día de los Beatles en Guatemala!
Hoy le damos la bienvenida a nuestra invitada, Sigrid Pineda, nuestra Coordinadora de la Campaña GREAT y nuestra Oficial de Diplomacia Digital (y una gran fan de los Beatles) quien escribe acerca del Día de los Beatles que se celebró por 4to año en Guatemala. A Sigrid. Los Beatles están vivos y tocando en Guatemala. […]
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22nd July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Extraordinary Beatles Day in Guatemala!
Today we welcome a guest blogger, Sigrid Pineda, our GREAT campaign co-ordinator and digital diplomacy champion (and closet Beatles fan), who writes about Beatles Day celebrated for the 4th year in Guatemala. Over to you Sigrid. The Beatles are alive and playing in Guatemala. On Saturday 13th July we supported Guatemala celebrate Beatles Day with […]
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22nd July 2013 Paris, France
A great sports summer for our two countries
At this time of year with the holidays coming, it’s good sometimes to have some positive and cheerful things to talk about, and I think sports between Britain and France is one of them right now.
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22nd July 2013 London, UK
Review of the Balance of Competences
The Government today announced the publication of the first six reports of the Balance of Competences Review. They cover an overview of the single market, health, development co-operation and humanitarian aid, foreign policy, animal health and welfare and food safety, and taxation. They will be followed by another 26 reports between now and the end […]
22nd July 2013 Budapest, Hungary
Swimming across Lake Balaton
I had a brilliant weekend. I did the Lake Balaton Cross Swim. That’s a 5.2 km swim across the biggest freshwater lake in Central Europe. It was so rewarding and so much fun. The organisers estimate that some 7700 people did the swim in the glorious sunshine. It was a bit more than a fun-swim, given the distance. But […]
22nd July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Phenomenon of World Youth Day
Denver, Manila, Paris, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Sydney, Czestochowa, Toronto, Cologne, Rome, Santiago de Compostela. What unites all these cities is the experience of hosting World Youth Day (WYD, GMG, JMJ), one of the most spectacular global events in the Christian calendar. Inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, this sometimes biennial, sometimes triennial festival […]
22nd July 2013 Vientiane, Laos
Laos through my eyes – Michael Shaw
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. I was the Second Secretary in the Embassy in Vientiane from early 1966 to late 1968. It was an interestng time as the extension of the Vietnam […]
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22nd July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
G8: what does it mean for Africa?
My Embassy hosted a panel discussion under the theme ‘G8: Tax, Trade, Transparency – What does it mean for Africa?’ last week. The Department for International Development’s Chief Economist Stefan Dercon was among the panellists and shared his views on the so-called “3T’s”, which have proved relevant not only to G8 countries but worldwide. Prominent […]
22nd July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Green school in Bali – the world’s greenest school
Imagine a school where all the classrooms are constructed of sustainable bamboo, the kids help to grow their own food and the whole curriculum has a sustainable theme. The toilets are biodegradable. That’s the Green School in Bali Indonesia, brainchild of celebrity jeweller and eco-pioneer John Hardy. Last week we took a brief holiday from […]
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19th July 2013 Tripoli, Libya
Kick Starting Yemen’s Future
The children wanted to play football. But there wasn’t one to hand. So an older boy was dispatched on a motorbike to find one. Then after a long wait a battered ball arrived and two hundred men and boys chased a ball around a dusty patch in the middle of the village. The game was […]