17th July 2025
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
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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
18th March 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
The Courage to Coexist?
Last Friday, I was lucky to attend the launch of the National Charter for Education on Living Together in Lebanon, which provides pupils with the knowledge and attitudes needed to live together in a diverse society. It was the first public milestone in the work that the Education Ministry, the Council for Educational Research and […]
18th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Doing What Works – the Data Revolution
This month in the UK we launched the ‘What Works’ Network – new centres of evidence to help ensure better decisions across £200 billion of public service spending. It’s the first time a government has set up such a model. The video launch at NESTA is well worth a look. The Network consists of two existing […]
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18th March 2013 Nairobi, Kenya
Opportunity, partnership and commitment.
Last Thursday, the Federal Government of Somalia, together with the UK, hosted the latest meeting with a number of key international partners in Mogadishu. The location was significant. This was the first time such a meeting had been held in Mogadishu since the Federal Government came to power last year. It was a real demonstration […]
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18th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Arms Trade Treaty: when diplomacy makes a difference
In my job I am often asked “what difference can diplomacy really make?”. It is not always an easy question to answer. But, this week at the United Nations in New York, we should see an example of diplomacy making a real, tangible difference – and both Turkey and the UK are involved. Today the […]
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18th March 2013 London, UK
Commonwealth – the world’s first social network?
Practise what you preach, we are always told. With my Australian colleague, I had invited six other High Commissioners in Brunei to answer the question “What does the Commonwealth mean to you?” – so I was going to have to come up with an answer of my own. I’ll tell you what it was in […]
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15th March 2013 Yerevan, Armenia
Interview with David Dowell, good friend of Armenia
Following the earthquake in Armenia in December 1988, Mrs Thatcher – the British Prime Minister – promised to rebuild one of the schools in Gyumri. Donations came from the British government, British business and the British people. David Dowell ran one of the companies that agreed to help the project. He spoke to Kathy Leach […]
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15th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Tour for Life: Campaign against violence
This week the Embassy helped Jovenes Por Guatemala (JXG) launch the next phase of their campaign to break the cycle of violent culture in the home. Regular followers of the Embassy’s work on this campaign will remember JXGs 2012 event, the Subida por la vida – the “Climb for Life” up the Agua volcano in […]
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15th March 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
Two years of crisis and human tragedy in Syria
Guest blog from British Ambassador to Turkey, David Reddaway, marking the second anniversary of the Syrian Uprising: The two years of crisis and human tragedy in Syria since the uprising, shaped by the Assad regime’s decision to respond to the Syrian people’s demand for democratic rights by repression rather than reform, have had a huge […]
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15th March 2013 New Delhi, India
Medical device meet up
Continuing our series of guest blogs from people we’ve worked with recently, here’s a blog from Arun Muthirulan, Accelerator India, about an exciting event in Bangalore a few weeks ago… Feb 5th 2013. Bangalore played host to RiffStream#, a very interesting “event”, focused on companies from UK and India operating in the medical devices, equipment […]
15th March 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
Syrian uprising two years on
Today marks the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising. Lebanon now hosts almost 400,000 registered Syrian refugees, but the real number of Syrians here is over 1m. Imagine the impact of 15m refugees in the UK. Lebanon, lashed to Syria by history and geography, has responded with extraordinary generosity. With camps avoided for political reasons, […]