Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

5th April 2013

Avatar photo

by Leigh Turner

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

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 […]

Read more on Brilliant students at Turkish universities | Reply

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 […]

Read more on Arms Trade Treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly on Tuesday | Reply

4th April 2013

Avatar photo

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

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 […]

Read more on We should all support the Arms Trade Treaty | Reply

3rd April 2013 Tripoli, Libya

Avatar photo

by Nicholas Hopton

Head of UK Embassy to 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، […]

Read more on البراعم الخضراء في اليمن | Reply (1)

3rd April 2013 Tripoli, Libya

Avatar photo

by Nicholas Hopton

Head of UK Embassy to 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. […]

Read more on Green shoots in Yemen | Reply (2)

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 […]

Read more on Africa, Texas | Reply

3rd April 2013

Avatar photo

by Leigh Turner

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

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 […]

Read more on Turkish-British partnership hits a high | Reply

3rd April 2013

Avatar photo

by Peter Millett

Ambassador to Libya, Tripoli

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 […]

Read more on Angelina Jolie and William Hague: Campaigning for Justice | Reply (4)

3rd April 2013 London, UK

Avatar photo

by Rob Fenn

Head of Human Rights and Democracy Department, FCO

“English as an ASEAN Language”- The Movie: Coming to a SEAMEO Centre near you!

Here are four ways to get the latest news about education in South East Asia. Ask SEAMEO, the regional Ministers of Education Organisation which the UK joined last week, as an Associate Member. We are deeply impressed by what SEAMEO has achieved over the last two years, under the active chairmanship of Brunei’s Minister of […]

Read more on “English as an ASEAN Language”- The Movie: Coming to a SEAMEO Centre near you! | Reply

2nd April 2013 Ottawa, Canada

Women in science: Dr. Brenda Milner

As promised, in celebration of International Women’s Day, SIN Canada would like to celebrate one of our GREAT Science participants, a pioneering women in science, Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS), and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC). If you haven’t already guessed (from our previous clues, found in this post), our post today […]

Read more on Women in science: Dr. Brenda Milner | Reply