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RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
8th April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
International Roma Day – La Multi Ani!
Being an Ambassador is a great job. In the last two years, I’ve steered a battleship, driven a sports car, travelled all over Romania and met some wonderful people. But the day I enjoyed most was July 27, 2011, when the British Embassy marked a year to go to the London Olympics by holding a […]
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7th April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Cheers to Health
‘Tena Yistelign’ is the Ethiopian greeting that wishes people good health to people we don’t know very well. This cheerful greeting underlines the importance of having a healthy life. As we mark another World Health Day today, it is a reminder that having a healthy lifestyle is critical to being productive and contributing to the […]
5th April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Brilliant students at Turkish universities
Part of my job is to meet current and future opinion-formers in Turkey; to learn from them; and to discuss with them the United Kingdom and our relationship with Turkey. So I always hugely enjoy meeting and talking to the brilliant students who study at Turkish universities. Today I visited Koç University, some way out […]
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5th April 2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Arms Trade Treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly on Tuesday
I was very pleased to see that the Arms Trade Treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. This is the culmination of getting on for ten years of work by nations committed to better control of the international arms trade, and by NGOs and religious groups who have campaigned relentlessly to push […]
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4th April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
We should all support the Arms Trade Treaty
2013 sees the 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s great encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), addressed “to all people of good will”. In the encyclical, Pope John called on states to reduce arms stockpiles – nuclear and conventional – and for “a general agreement … about progressive disarmament and an effective method of […]
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3rd April 2013 Tripoli, Libya
البراعم الخضراء في اليمن
يزعم بعض الناس أن مشاكل اليمن متأصلة في البلاد بعمق لدرجة أنه من الصعب التغلب عليها. وصحيح أن الثقافة القبلية في الشمال وإرث حكومات ما بعد الاستقلال والمظالم التي عانى من الناس منذ الوحدة – ناهيك عن مصائب الإرهاب والفساد – تمثل عقبات كبيرة. فهي تقطع الطريق أمام إيجاد ديموقراطية أكثر تمثيلا، وتنفيذ لسطلة القانون، […]
3rd April 2013 Tripoli, Libya
Green shoots in Yemen
There is a body of opinion that argues Yemen’s problems are so deeply embedded that the country will never overcome them. It is true that the tribal culture in the north and the Cold War and post-unification legacies in the south – not to mention the scourges of terrorism and corruption – pose formidable obstacles. […]
3rd April 2013 Washington DC, USA
Africa, Texas
It is a warm morning, and I’m standing in a crowd of Africans. Many of the women are in brightly coloured dresses; the men sport a variety of styles of headdress. A minibus pulls up and we squeeze more of us on-board than I thought possible. As we’re about to shut the door someone leans […]
3rd April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Turkish-British partnership hits a high
In late March, the sun beats down on metre-deep snow. On slopes above, skiers glide. At a hotel in the town centre, over 500 top Turkish business people and opinion formers have gathered. Welcome to the Uludağ Economic Summit in Bursa – a fantastic launch-pad for the UK-Turkey GREAT campaign. The GREAT campaign is all […]
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3rd April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Angelina Jolie and William Hague: Campaigning for Justice
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie and British Foreign Secretary William Hague make an unlikely combination. But they are campaigning together to stop rape being used as a tool of war. Last week they visited the Democratic Republic of Congo together to raise awareness of the issue on an international level. How serious is the use of […]
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