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
8th March 2013 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
One Woman’s Fight to End Gender Discrimination in Malaysia
I’m delighted that Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, daughter of Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad, has kindly agreed to write a guest blog for the British High Commission to mark International Women’s Day 2013. This year’s theme is ‘The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum’. As one of Malaysia’s foremost advocates for gender equality, I couldn’t […]
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8th March 2013 London, UK
International Women’s Day 2013
Guest blog by Julia Fenn, the British High Commissioner’s wife, on the importance of International Women’s Day and what this day means to her personally. I have celebrated International Women’s Day in Brunei for the last three years, though I have to confess that I never particularly marked the date anywhere else before. It is strange how […]
8th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Closing the Gender Gap
Today is International Women’s Day, an annual event launched over a century ago, in 1910, to celebrate the social and economic achievements of women.
The situation for women since then has changed profoundly…
7th March 2013 Boston, USA
Boston “townies” tasked with helping Obama on Climate Change and Energy
The anticipation is building in New England as two Bostonians were nominated for key positions within the new Obama administration. On Monday, President Obama named Ernest Moniz as energy secretary and Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Moniz, a professor of physics and engineering at MIT, is a leading energy researcher that […]
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7th March 2013 Budapest, Hungary
Commercial diplomacy in action
It’s been a long time since I last posted a blog. Not because I’ve got lazy! But because I’ve been travelling so much lately. I’ve been away for large parts of three of the last four weeks. Each time for really good events, and each of which events were about the Central Europe region rather […]
7th March 2013 Paris, France
FCO women’s stories: Kara Owen
In the lead up to International Women’s Day on Friday, we are featuring the stories of women who work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as guest posts across the FCO bloggers’ network. Kara Owen is my Deputy Head of Mission here in Paris and I’m delighted to have her as a guest blogger today […]
7th March 2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
International Women’s Day
This Friday, 8 March, is International Women’s Day. The Embassy will be closed for the holiday, so we are celebrating today, on Thursday 7 March. The men in the Embassy are bringing flowers and cake for the women. I’ve been out negotiating the purchase of eighteen bouquets (as with St Valentine’s Day, it seems the […]
7th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Falklands referendum, 10-11 March
In June 2012 the Falkland Islands announced their intention to hold a referendum in order to give the Falkland Islanders their say on the future. The referendum will take place on 10-11 March. Some background is here, including the full question which will be put (which includes the notably clear text: Do you wish the […]
6th March 2013 Ottawa, Canada
Breaking the traditional mould
Outside my office there is a wall of portraits of previous British High Commissioners to Canada. I call it, with just a hint of a smile, the “wall of diversity”. As you can imagine, the portraits are all of white men of a certain age…
6th March 2013 Nairobi, Kenya
From the Olympic village to Somalia – FCO women’s stories
In the lead up to International Women’s Day on Friday, we are featuring the stories of women who work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as guest posts across the FCO bloggers’ network. Jane Stevens and Tracey McLelland are a successful job sharing duo who are part of the communications team working on the upcoming […]
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