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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
23rd April 2024
Good English – A Key to Panama’s Future Success
21st March 2024
Forests in focus on International Day of Forests
24th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Communications, Silence, and Survival
It was interesting to see Pope Benedict speaking today about communications, in advance of the 20 May World Day of Social Communications. We are all in the business. From bloggers like me, to Foreign Ministries striving to get their “angle” across, from the frenzied activity of Twitter, to the simple conversation on the mobile. We […]
24th January 2012 London, UK
Working with the EU to help pursue UK foreign policy objectives
I have just attended the January meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels and have been reflecting on how the collective weight of EU members can be harnessed to promote the UK’s national prosperity and security. For example, at the December meeting, the Foreign Secretary discussed with all our European Union partners how […]
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24th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Social entrepreneurship in Ukraine?
On a deeply snowy winter’s morning I visit Pushcha-Vodytsya, on the outskirts of Kiev, to address the participants of a week-long training course on social entrepreneurship. The idea of most business activity is to earn profits which can be paid to the shareholders who invested in the enterprise in the first place. The difference with […]
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24th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Timket
Last week I was privileged with my colleague Betty to attend the annual Ethiopian event of Temket, the main festival for orthodox Christians in Ethiopia and the equivalent of our Epiphany. The concept of revelation is similar to all such ceremonies, but here in Ethiopia the focus is on Christ’s baptism and His first miracle […]
23rd January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Enjoy beer (responsibly)
I love a good beer. Preferably a real ale (consumed responsibly, naturally). If I was back home in the UK, I’d order a pint of Spitfire, brewed by England’s oldest brewery, Faversham-based Shepherd Neame. So I thought I was going to be disappointed with the lighter offerings in the US, and have to resign myself […]
23rd January 2012 London, UK
Making the European Court of Human Rights work better
This week is a big week for the UK in Strasbourg. We are 11 weeks into our 6 month Chairmanship of the Council of Europe. We are pressing ahead with our wide-ranging Chairmanship priorities, in particular our ambitious package of reforms for the European Court of Human Rights (the Court). The Council of Europe was […]
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23rd January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Give Peace a Chance
As has been widely reported, King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators together for the first time in 16 months. They have held three meetings in Amman choreographed by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. Comments in the international press have seen a wide range of optimism, pessimism and cynicism. It’s easy to be pessimistic […]
23rd January 2012 Bucharest, Romania
Entrepreneurship is GREAT Britain
Sir Richard Branson is reportedly going to visit Romania in May! He is one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs of our days and a personal role model given his multifaceted achievement, whether in business, personal life, charity work, music or sport. A visionary with astounding resources, Richard Branson is the offspring of Britain’s economic boom […]
20th January 2012 USA
American football is GREAT
The following is a guest post by Melinda Goforth, Consul, Head of Trade and Investment — Washington. George Bernard Shaw once said that America and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language. But I think the quirky differences in our respective ways of phrasing can actually bring us together, a point illustrated […]
20th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
Haircuts are a sign of the times
I’m not sure if it was nerves, enthusiasm, or a combination of the two, but the atmosphere in the Embassy here in Washington DC was palpably different this week. Ties and new haircuts had been acquired by colleagues over the weekend. And—clearly a sign that something was up—we were all early to the regular Embassy-wide […]