17th May 2024
Reflections on IDAHOBIT: International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
13th May 2024
Value with Values: UK Commitment to Climate Partnership
25th April 2024
Reflect & Remember: Anzac Day 2024
22nd July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Olympic Truce
In ancient Greece, where the Olympic Games originated, there was a sacred tradition that warring city states would lay down their arms to allow athletes to compete in the Games. Warlords were unable to take the opportunity of teams crossing their territory to score points against their enemies, or take sportsmen hostage. Greeks could concentrate on sport, […]
21st July 2012 Harare, Zimbabwe
One year on, reflections on Lashkar Gah’s entry into Transition
To mark the one year anniversary of Lashkar Gah’s transition to Afghan control (the first area to transition in Helmand), please see a guest blog from the Stabilisation Advisor for Lashkar Gah at this significant time. I arrived in Helmand in October of 2010 to work alongside local Government as a District Stabilisation Advisor, in the […]
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20th July 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
Hargeisa Book Fair – Arts, Culture and so much more
And so to Hargeisa for the Hargeisa International Book Fair, an inspiring gathering of artists, authors, poets and more. Established by Jama Musse Jama and organized by the wonderful Ayan Mahamoud and her excellent team, the Book Fair is now in its fifth year. Hargeisa may have no theatre, no permanent library and no cinema, […]
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19th July 2012 Lima, Peru
Embassies and the Olympic Games
By Julio Muñoz-Deacon, Peruvian Ambassador to the United Kingdom With only a few days to go until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,hopes are rising, excitement mounts and everyone is crossing their fingers hoping for good weather again after so many days of rain and cold. Today is sunny and without rain. A good sign. […]
19th July 2012 Toronto, Canada
Public access to publicly-funded research
The question of whether the public should be allowed to freely access publicly-funded research has been raging for years now, culminating recently in an all-out assault on the restrictions of traditional publishing models dubbed the Academic Spring. Read on for some history and what the UK is doing about it. The “traditional” model of research […]
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19th July 2012 Chevening, UK
The impact winning a Chevening Scholarship can have
Our latest Chevening Conversations blog entry is by Mike Nithavrianakis, British Deputy High Commissioner in India. Mike tells us about when he met two successful Chevening Scholars, Girija Vaidyanathan and Shaffi Mather as part of his work, demonstrating the impact winning a Chevening Scholarship can have. I visited Trivandrum and Kochi on 21-23 May for a series of meetings with the Government of Kerala, as […]
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19th July 2012 Geneva, Switzerland
Quietly Momentous
It was a strange June Council session. By starting much later this year, it felt like school had been punishingly extended for 3 extra weeks, just as the bell should have been granting us our summer freedom. Everyone did their best to wear their polite, professional faces. But the truth was, we all wanted to […]
19th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Romania’s CVM report – the bigger picture
Yesterday the Commission published its five year reports on Romania and Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. The CVM monitors and supports reforms undertaken by both countries to strengthen the rule of law, reform the judiciary and tackle corruption. The Commission sets out its concerns about the recent political crisis in Romania. William Hague […]
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19th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Geelong: identifying new economic opportunities
Traditional manufacturing centres in Australia and Britain continue to evolve as global supply chains are transformed. Geelong, Victoria’s second city, is responding to challenges which would be familiar in many British cities. Employment has been declining in its historical large manufacturing sectors like car-making and aluminium-smelting, not helped by the strong Australian dollar. Ford announced some further […]
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18th July 2012 New Delhi, India
Joint call for research proposals – Sustainable Bioenergy
Bioenergy is an energy source derived from organic matter, or biomass. It can be as low-tech as burning wood on an open fire or as high-tech as developing advanced production methods for biofuels. The unifying factor with all bioenergy sources, however, is that the carbon they contain (and emit when used) comes from plants, and […]
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