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
25th March 2013 San Francisco, USA
Energy Storage Technology in the UK and California
It’s something we depend on every day – when we power up our phones and laptops, use a domestic hot water tank, or turn on a flashlight – but energy storage technology also has a role to play at a much larger scale. As I found out recently, the ability to store energy in the […]
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25th March 2013 Geneva, Switzerland
Habemus Resolutiones
The session is over, the resolutions are all adopted and UN blue smoke has finally risen through the holes in the Council ceiling. After weeks of lock down without food, daylight or other things that make us happy, the Council delegates can start to think about a return to normality. But for those afflicted by […]
25th March 2013 London, UK
Completing the moving to GOV.UK
Our consular services and worldwide pages are now on GOV.UK, the last major part of our move to the single government website. This has been a substantial exercise, involving around 250 sites and tens of thousands of pages of content. It has involved close work over six months between the Government Digital Service and FCO, […]
25th March 2013 New Delhi, India
Giant leap forward for Indo-UK Industrial R&D
A whirlwind 3 day trip to the UK resulted in an exciting development – a UK India Programme of Co-operation (POC) on joint industrial research has been signed (see our earlier press release). This is an agreement between India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to support innovative […]
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25th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
An introduction to the UK and the OECD
My first video blog gives an insight into what the OECD does and the role of the UK Delegation. Have a look to find out a bit more about our top priorities as a Delegation, and how we’re working with the OECD. The UK and the OECD – an introduction Transcript of video blog I’m Nick […]
25th March 2013 Dushanbe, Tajikistan
In Search of Oxus Treasure – Trip to Takhti Sangin
The following is a post by Bahodur Sheraliev. In the extremely beautiful spot where the Vakhsh and Pyanj rivers flow together and give birth to the Amu Darya lie the ruins of the Takhti Sangin temple. Once a crossroads of the old silk routes, this previously dynamic and developed settlement is nowadays a place where […]
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25th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Anglo/Australian play about the 7/7 London bombings
“Thursday” is a new play based on Gill Hicks, the Adelaide-born lady who lost both legs in the London tube bombings, and who has been such an inspiration with her bravery and dignity. It was with mixed feelings that I went along to the Canberra theatre to see this fascinating collaboration between the English Touring […]
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24th March 2013 Tripoli, Libya
فن الحوار
في 19 مارس، رأيت اليمنيين يعبرون عن مواقفهم بثبات ومرح. فقد احيوا ما قدموه وبدا واضحاً ايمانهم بمستقبل أفضل. بدوا متوترين قليلاً الا انه كان جلياً استمتاعهم بوقتهم ايضاً. وكانت الفكرة السائدة كيف يمكن للأفكار ان تغير من حياة الافراد، وتعززت فكرة ان الابتكار والتفكير الإبداعي اقوى من سطوة السلاح لتحقيق التغير. وفي نفس الوقت، […]
23rd March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Earth Hour
Earth hour will take place tonight at 8.30pm. Hundreds of millions of people will turn off their lights for one hour, on the same night, all across the world in a huge, symbolic show of support. The whole of the UK government, and especially the FCO and its embassies around the world, will also mark […]
22nd March 2013 Washington DC, USA
After YES: Falkland Islanders make sweeping tour of US
In land far, far away, a community of people sent an emphatic message to the rest of the world, definitively declaring their political status for the first time in history. “YES!” screamed from social media feeds on Monday 11 March, where the Falkland Islands announced their wish to retain their status as a British Overseas […]
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