1st October 2026
A Year Too Big for Two Suitcases: Notes From a Chevening Scholar
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
10th December 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Transcarpathia: castles, skis and the mayor’s car
The walls of the castle rise sheer from the base of a deep, dry moat. Three different batteries of cannon face the west. To the east rise the Carpathians, dusted with snow. Welcome to Mukachevo, scenic setting of the world’s largest ski factory and as dense a melting pot of European cultures as one could […]
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10th December 2010 Chevening, UK
Human Rights Day 2010 – another view from Nigeria
Adeniyi Egbetade writes about CHIEF GANIYU OYESOLA FAWEHINMI (1938-2009). This eminent Nigerian lived and died for justice for mankind and the rule of law. He never allowed religious or tribal sentiments to taint his fight for human rights. Chief Fawehinmi studied law at Holborn College of Law UK between 1961and 1964. He fought the scourge […]
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10th December 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Racism and discrimination
OHCHR’s representative in Bolivia, Denis Racicot, writes as a guest blogger. For more information visit http://bolivia.ohchr.org. In 1966, by means of the signing of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination and the subsequent ratification en 1970, the State of Bolivia committed to adopt all the necessary measures for the […]
10th December 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Can we make convoys more democratic?
When I first arrived in Kyiv, a local journalist asked if I liked playing golf. When I said that, wonderful (and British) a game as golf was, I preferred table-tennis, she noted it down. “Very democratic,” she said. A couple of weeks later, I flew back from a visit to the UK using a budget […]
10th December 2010 Chevening, UK
Human Rights Day 2010 – a view from Pakistan
My name is Ahmad Nadeem Khan and I am from Pakistan. I was a Chevening fellow in the year 2008 in the University of Birmingham and participated in the course ‘What makes democracy work’. I still cherish those days and the great learning environment. I just wanted to share on the occassion of International Human […]
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10th December 2010 Chevening, UK
Human Rights Day 2010 – a view from Indonesia
Lishia Erza, a recent Chevening alumnus from Indonesia writes; We can be heroes, even just for one day. Great song to ring in my head on human rights day. Anyway… Back to topic. Nobody should be excluded or discriminated against in their effort to access basic rights. That is the general belief. While it is […]
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10th December 2010 Chevening, UK
Human Rights Day 2010 – a view from Mexico
A blog from Angelina Montserrat Vidal Leon, L.L.M, University of Birmingham 2010-2011. As in many other countries, the role played by human rights defenders in Mexico has proved to be of fundamental importance for the implementation of human rights and consequently, the strengthening of democracy in the national context. Nevertheless, due to the complex reality […]
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10th December 2010 Chevening, UK
Human Rights Day 2010 – a view from Nigeria
My name is Francis Moneke, Chevening Scholar 2010. I have an LLM in International Human Rights Law from SOAS, University of London. As we celebrate this year’s international human rights day, I wish to call the attention of the international community to the massive economic discrimination going on in Nigeria. Increasingly, the poor and the […]
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10th December 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Walking 358km in the footsteps of Gandhi
On Thursday 18 November forty people gathered pre-dawn at one of India’s most historic sites, the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where Mahatma Gandhi lived for many years. The occasion was the beginning of an India-UK Friendship Walk, which my wife Jill has organised with massive support from members of the Association of British Scholars in […]
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9th December 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Human rights in Ukraine
In the mid 1970s I flew from London to Johannesburg via Madrid in order to get the cheapest fare. During the stopover at Madrid airport I was waiting to buy a newspaper at a shop when I was elbowed out of the way by an immensely solid Guardia Civil officer in a shiny black hat […]