Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

11th June 2019 Vienna, Austria

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Turner comes to Gmünd

Are there 2,550 reasons to visit Gmünd, in Carinthia?  No.  There are 2551. When I first started work at the Department of the Environment in 1979, I used to go once a week with a friend at lunchtime to visit the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) on Bankside.  I was fascinated to discover the works […]

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8th June 2019 Science Innovation USA

David Pasquini

Consul, Government and Business Affairs - UK Government Office in San Diego

Building the Blue Economy and solving global challenges in San Diego, California

As global population grows, so does our impact on the world’s oceans. Even today, on this World Ocean Day, we continue to hear about scary things such as ocean acidification, the proliferation of plastic in the ocean, and ecosystem destabilization.  Every day brings a new report of man-made environmental disasters. But all is not lost. […]

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7th June 2019 Vatican, Holy See

Fr. Eamonn O’Higgins, L.C.

Fr. Eamonn O’Higgins, L.C.

Manager of The Vatican (St. Peter’s) Cricket Team

The Vatican Cricket Team: Sport and faith in action

A guest blog written by Fr. Eamonn O’Higgins, L.C., manager of The Vatican (St. Peter’s) Cricket Team, and Fr. Sameer Advani, L.C., co-manager. Cricket is perhaps not what immediately springs to mind when you think of the Vatican, but the Vatican (St Peter’s) Cricket Team has an important role in building bridges between faiths and […]

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7th June 2019

Susan Njanji

Susan Njanji

Southern African regional correspondent, Agence France-Presse (AFP)

Reporting from the frontline

Long-time Southern African regional correspondent Susan Njanji from Zimbabwe was one of very few black African female journalists to cover the genocide in Rwanda. Here she reflects on the challenges that she’s faced when reporting from the frontline as a woman – and why gender should never be a factor in deciding who gets the […]

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6th June 2019 Geneva, Switzerland

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by Aidan Liddle

UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament

Disarmament blog: space – the final frontier for arms control?

I spent part of last week at the Space Security Conference run by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, which has become something of an annual fixture. It was excellent – the organisers brought together an amazing group of speakers from governments, academia, the media and industry, and I came away with a far better […]

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4th June 2019 Vienna, Austria

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

No such thing as a fish

At the beginning of April, I was delighted to find out that a British podcast at the intersection of comedy and science had been chosen for the City of Vienna’s annual science communication award. To me this is both a testament to the strong bilateral relationship the UK has with Austria on science and education […]

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31st May 2019 Skopje, North Macedonia

Arijeta Hadzi-Hamza

Arijeta Hadzi-Hamza

Staff member of the British Embassy Skopje

Ramadan in our Skopje Neighbourhood

What is Ramadan? Of all the months, Muslims love Ramadan the most mainly because of the greater rewards found in this month. Ramadan is also significantly known as the month where the Quran was sent down to the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) as a guidance to mankind. But apart from this, there are also several […]

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29th May 2019 Vienna, Austria

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Drugs in Vienna: making a difference internationally

One of Vienna’s key international organisations is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the UNODC.  But how exactly do countries work with UNODC to combat the illegal use of drugs? Every March, the UK and other countries send experts to the UNODC in Vienna for the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, known as the […]

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28th May 2019

Nathalie Sala

Nathalie Sala

Radio journalist, Fondation Hirondelle

Women are fighting to change perceptions

A church hall full of women farmers eager to debate elections in central Africa. Unlikely? Not if you listen to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Nathalie Sala who works with the Fondation Hirondelle to create the kind of radio programmes that urge women to vote and get more involved in politics in the second largest […]

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24th May 2019 Skopje, North Macedonia

Amna Kurbegović

Amna Kurbegović

British Council Western Balkans Communication Manager

21 Century Schools programme gets a Royal Presentation in North Macedonia

His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex paid an official visit to North Macedonia on 15. May 2019. During the visit, he took special interest in the assistance that the United Kingdom provides to North Macedonia through the three year education programme 21st Century Schools. As part of the event organised by British […]

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