3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
21st December 2012 Ottawa, Canada
A time of reflection
We’re into that final pre-Xmas flurry of activity, and I’m sure you’re all frantically getting ready for the holiday season. I know I am, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve bought most of my Christmas presents online this year, which removes some of the romance of shopping, but makes life a lot easier! But […]
21st December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Education – “learn from the best”
Along with the OECD Secretariat, and other member state representatives, I’ve been busy finalising 2013 and 2014 OECD work priorities in the last few days (more on those priorities in the New Year – lots of exciting work coming on stream in areas of UK interest). But I did want to quickly go back and reflect on […]
21st December 2012 London, UK
Consular Christmas blogs: Have a Merry and Safe Christmas, Minister Mark Simmonds…
The following is a guest post by Foreign Office Minister, Mark Simmonds. Over the last two weeks we’ve brought you a series of blogs from our consular staff from around the world. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about some of the work we do to support British nationals abroad, and gained some insight into what […]
Read more on Consular Christmas blogs: Have a Merry and Safe Christmas, Minister Mark Simmonds… | Reply
21st December 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Merry Christmas and Wesołych Świąt
December has certainly not been a quiet month for the Warsaw Embassy team. Just a few examples. We were extremely proud to be awarded the Medal of the Friends of Integration by the prestigious Integracja Foundation at their annual Gala last week. This reflects our work over several years to support the Polish government, Parliament […]
21st December 2012 Budapest, Hungary
The best thing I’ve done in Budapest
I helped offer a Christmas lunch to the least well-off in Budapest today. It was the best thing I’ve done since I arrived here. The Hungarian Interchurch Aid organisation ran the event, with support from local companies, and I went down with a small group from the Embassy to do what we could to contribute. […]
21st December 2012 Washington DC, USA
2012 and all that. A GREAT year for Britain
According to Wikipedia, Prosperity is the state of flourishing, thriving, good fortune and / or successful social status. Prosperity often encompasses wealth but also includes others factors which are independent of wealth to varying degrees, such as happiness and health. It’s also (with a capital ‘P’) the word the Foreign Office uses to describe one […]
Read more on 2012 and all that. A GREAT year for Britain | Reply
21st December 2012 Paris, France
Bye bye 2012… Welcome 2013!
Christmas is a time to look back at the year and also forward to the next year, and this has been an exceptional year for the UK in many ways. For me it finished on a high note because I was able to be in the Foreign Office in London when The Queen came for […]
21st December 2012 London, UK
Realizing a dream – Abdul Matiin’s Guest Blog
Realizing a dream It was such an honour to have been awarded the Chevening Scholarship. I remember during my high school years reading articles in the Borneo Bulletin about scholars being awarded the prestigious Chevening grant every year. Never in a million years would I have thought that one day I would be following in […]
Read more on Realizing a dream – Abdul Matiin’s Guest Blog | Reply
20th December 2012 London, UK
The future of digital in the Foreign Office
Today we’ve published the Foreign Office Digital Strategy. The process of writing that strategy has been an intense one. We organised workshops with policy and service delivery staff, held teleconferences with …
Read more on The future of digital in the Foreign Office | Reply (3)
20th December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A GREAT 2012: see you on the other side (hopefully!)
(Guest blog by David McNaught, Charge d’Affaires) Fingers crossed that the doomsday predictions are wrong about the end of the 13th Maya Baktun! We’re banking on it marking the start of a new era because we’ve got a lot planned for 2013. First though, let’s reminisce about a GREAT 2012! There were many highlights. The […]
Read more on A GREAT 2012: see you on the other side (hopefully!) | Reply