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9th November 2011 Windhoek, Namibia
Guest blog by Natalie Luscombe, Office Manager for UK Minister for Africa
I am UK based member of staff at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and have been in Namibia for two and a half weeks to help with the organisation of the 3 day visit to Namibia by the UK’s Minister for Africa, Henry Bellingham. The Minister arrived fresh from the UK on 31 October to […]
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9th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Why I wear a poppy
Once again, as November begins and temperatures dip towards freezing in Kyiv, Ukrainian friends and contacts are asking why I am wearing a small, red flower on my jacket lapel. I can do no better than refer to the blog I published this time last year, “Why I wear a poppy“. As in previous years […]
8th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The race that stops a nation
Last week Sarah and I were invited to attend the Melbourne Cup, the race that famously “stops the nation”. In British terms it seems to be the equivalent of Ascot, the Grand National and the Derby all rolled into one. It’s an unmissable Aussie experience. We were very fortunate to be able to join the […]
4th November 2011 New York, USA
Countdown to the Marathon
As my Monster Month of training draws to a close and I enter the final 36 hours before the New York City Marathon on Sunday, I’d like to take this opportunity to praise the efforts of those involved and the causes which are being supported by thousands of competitors. Within the British Consulate in New […]
4th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Making Chornobyl safer
Did you know that one of the largest moveable structures ever assembled is being created in Ukraine over the next four years? That it will cost around Euro 1.54 billion? And that the aim is to reduce the risk of radiation escaping from Chornobyl’s damaged Reactor Number 4? The “New Safe Confinement Project” at Chornobyl […]
4th November 2011 Windhoek, Namibia
Windhoek relaunches Chevening Alumni Association of Namibia (CAAN).
I thought it was well worth highlighting a couple of key events in turn (over a series of blogs), which really helped round out the heavy commercial focus of the programme and highlight the breadth of our activities here. The photos also help illustrate the tremendous warmth of the reception that the minister received from […]
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4th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Assisi II
I paid my second visit to Assisi within a week when I attended, with Princess Michael of Kent standing in for the Duke of Edinburgh, the launch by the ARC of their Green Pilgrimages Network. ARC, the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, is an organisation launched in 1995. To quote them, they are “a secular […]
4th November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A busy week in Perth
I’m back in Canberra after a very hectic week in Perth. We had a busy programme around the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). It was good to see so many UK ministers in Australia. Early in the week I was accompanying Lord Green the Trade Minister. He attended the Commonwealth Business Forum which attracted […]
3rd November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
EU/Ukraine: Signing by Christmas?
“So it seems to me,” the Ukrainian business leader says, “that Ukraine is so important to the EU that they’ll overlook Mrs Tymoshenko and recent declines in democratic standards and we’ll sign the Association Agreement in December.” “No,” I say. “That’s won’t happen, for several reasons.” I’m visiting an important Ukrainian enterprise which does a […]
2nd November 2011 Chevening, UK
Every Chevening Scholar is a Bright Star!
Lishia Erza, one of our 2009-2010 alumnus, completed a Master’s course in Social and Global Justice at the University of Nottingham. Lishia is currently doing a PhD in Edinburgh (Governance for Excluded Communities) and chairs the United Nations Association Edinburgh’s working group for Democracy, Governance and Humanities. In this article, Lishia tells us about the […]
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