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
8th May 2013 Budapest, Hungary
Saying ‘no’ to hatred
I attended a gala dinner to launch the 14th Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress on Sunday night. The leading figures of the Jewish communities of the world were there. And so were senior figures from the Hungarian Government, including PM Orbán, and leaders of opposition parties. I sat at a table with representatives […]
7th May 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
Managing Contagion: The Battle to Keep Lebanon out of the War in Syria
I was asked to speak at the Issam Fares Centre tonight on how Lebanon can best manage contagion from the growing crisis next door in Syria. Thanks as ever for the input via Twitter. Lebanon faces no more pressing question. We won’t have the luxury of addressing other issues – the potential gas bonanza, Leb2020, the […]
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7th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Trade, tunnels, transit and training in mountainous Tajikistan
It’s not called the ‘tunnel of doom’ for nothing. Half-way through the Anzob tunnel which links the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, to second city Khudzand in the north, the cladding of the tunnel is replaced by bare rocks. The surface becomes a pot-holed morass of broken concrete and projecting steel reinforcing rods. Water cascades from […]
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7th May 2013 New Delhi, India
Streets ahead – how will our future cities look?
No-one really knows what the future holds, but the reality now is that our urban spaces are overcrowded and polluted. India is rapidly urbanizing. From 1991 to 2011, the urban population in India has increased from 100 million to 200 million. By 2041, 50-percent of India’s population is expected to live in cities. On average, […]
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7th May 2013 Dushanbe, Tajikistan
My First Ever Trade Mission to Tajikistan
The following is a post by Nigel Peters, Leader of the First Ever UK Trade Mission to Tajikistan. My first experience of Central Asia was when I was seconded to what is now UK Trade & Investment from 1993-95 as Export Promoter for Central Asia, helping UK companies understand the business opportunities in the newly […]
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7th May 2013 Vientiane, Laos
Laos through my eyes – Colin Cotterill
The following is a guest post by Colin Cotterill. In 1976, like Captain James Cook on his ill-fated trip to Hawaii, I set off from Blighty in search of adventure and never came back. Oh, perhaps the occasional Christmas or odd publishing junket, but I knew I’d never be taking advantage of the over-sixties London […]
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6th May 2013 Atlanta, USA
United Against Obesity
According to the WHO, worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. There are so many stories in the media right now related to this epidemic, many of which are causing an uproar, from New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, recently announcing a proposed ban on the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16oz in the […]
6th May 2013 Windhoek, Namibia
Press Freedom Day – guest blog by Natasha Tibinyane, MISA Namibia
The year 2013 signals a milestone for African journalists, and Namibian journalists in particular, because it is the 20th Anniversary of World Press Freedom Day. It is a special day for African journalists because, in 1993, the United Nations General Assembly declared 3 May as World Press Freedom Day. This came after African journalists adopted […]
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5th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
New Australian Defence White Paper
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Defence Minister Stephen Smith launched Australia’s new Defence White Paper in an RAAF hangar in Canberra. They were flanked by Australia’s senior military chiefs and defence officials, against the backdrop of some impressive looking hardware and a military band. The hangar was open to the elements, so we could all […]
3rd May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What we have to combat
The Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Guatemalan Frank La Rue and friend of this Embassy, has written an article to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day: To mark this important date, I will like to highlight some important conclusions contained in my last […]