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
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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3rd April 2013 London, UK
“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 […]
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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 […]
2nd April 2013 Toronto, Canada
QC, UK team up to fight obesity
I was recently over in the UK for a Québec-UK symposium on cardiometabolic disease in Cambridge, followed by meetings with researchers at various universities. We’ll follow up on potential joint projects this year, but for now here’s what I was tweeting during the trip: [View the story “QC-UK cardiometabolic disease symposium” on Storify]
2nd April 2013 Washington DC, USA
Why David Bowie is a Velvet Goldmine
On March 12, British living legend David Bowie released his first new album in almost ten years – “The Next Day”. The record has been met with a tremendous reception, both critically and commercially. Q Magazine crowned its release with a gold plated five star review. It entered the UK album chart at the number […]
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