Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

20th December 2011 Beirut, Lebanon

Tom Fletcher

by Tom Fletcher

Former British Ambassador to Lebanon

Social Media Changing Lives, and Lebanon

The theme of last week’s International Human Rights Day was the role that social media can play in highlighting and challenging human rights abuses. So I was excited to be invited to take part in the American University of Beirut’s conference on Social Media Changing Lives, put together by the excellent @mhijazi  and his team. […]

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20th December 2011

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by Martin Harris

British Ambassador to Ukraine

Queen Marie arrives at the Ambassador’s Residence

This week Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Margareta unveiled a new picture at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Bucharest – a portrait of Queen Marie of Romania. Queen Marie was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, born Princess Marie of Edinburgh in 1875.  As the wife of King Ferdinand she became Queen of Romania in 1914. […]

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19th December 2011 Bucharest, Romania

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by Raluca Bragarea

Head of Communications, Bucharest

Training on first aid

It has been a longstanding personal goal to learn to give first aid and this has eventually come to fruition with support from a local NGO Asociatia React and enthusiastic volunteers at SMURD Bucharest, the special unit within the municipal fire brigade. I was very pleased to hear that SMURD, an almost iconic institution with […]

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19th December 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

How the EU helps Ukraine: an example

Everyone knows that one of the benefits of Ukraine’s potential integration with the EU is that the EU will help Ukraine to adapt the quality of its administration to EU standards.  In other words, the EU will help Ukraine to become a more EU-type country. But how does that work in practice? One of the […]

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17th December 2011

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by Peter Millett

Ambassador to Libya, Tripoli

The Year of Living Dangerously

It is a year since Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself in petrol and set fire to himself. He was protesting because he was unable to earn a living.  At the time I was studying Arabic in London. I struggled to understand the Arabic words used in the news reports. But I wasn’t alone in failing to […]

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16th December 2011 Ottawa, Canada

Arnold Falls for Quebec

Another Bilingual blog from our Montreal Science & Innovation Officer, Nicolina Farella: It all started last March, when I received a phone call from Arnold Black. Arnold wears two hats. On one hand, he is Project Manager for C-Tech innovation (R&D company in the clean technology sector), and he also holds the position of Technology […]

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16th December 2011

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Britain and its role in Europe

Australian readers of this blog will be wondering what the latest headlines about the UKs’ relationship with Europe are all about.  The complexities of Europe’s institutional structures are hard enough to follow if you’re living there, let alone observing the continent from 10,000 miles away. In essence, the latest developments flow from the problems of […]

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15th December 2011 Toronto, Canada

SIN podcast: Dr. Paul Dyce on reproductive medicine

This is a (slightly late) report on SIN Canada’s involvement with the 15th International Conference on the Development and Function of Reproductive Organs (DFRO), held at the University of Edinburgh in September 2011. We supported the participation of Dr. Paul Dyce (University of Western Ontario) as part of our broader work in promoting UK-Canada links […]

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15th December 2011 USA

Durban: A cause for optimism

For those of us actively working toward successful international negotiations on climate change, the most recent meeting in Durban, South Africa seems like cause for optimism this holiday season. The UN climate talks wrapped up last weekend with over 120 countries (including major economies such as the United States) forming a coalition behind the EU’s […]

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15th December 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

British ambassador serves Ukrainian wine

How good does wine have to be to be served at the residence of the British ambassador in Ukraine?  The answer is that taste in wine is a pretty subjective issue; but that I’m always on the look-out for good Ukrainian products and, of course, for value for money.  I’m also keen on promoting good […]

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