25th April 2024
Reflect & Remember: Anzac Day 2024
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
8th March 2018 Canberra, Australia
Women in Security
The security world has a diversity problem. The number of women in senior security roles, within government (and beyond) while improving remains stubbornly low. The higher you go the worse it tends to get. By background I am more of a securocrat than a diplomat and have spent most of my career working on national […]
7th March 2018 Berlin, Germany
Women in Science: fostering UK-German innovation
Today, 8 March, marks International Women’s Day and tomorrow, 9 March, marks the beginning of British Science week. According to UNESCO, less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. So today we’re pleased to introduce two female scientists who have agreed to share a little about their careers and experiences as women working at […]
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5th March 2018 Vilnius, Lithuania
Lithuanian Centenary – the people who built our friendship – Writers
Not long after first arriving in Vilnius I hosted the book launch for Kristina Sabaliauskaitė’s new book ‘Vilnius, Wilno, Vilna’. I didn’t know much about the author, although many people in the Embassy had read, and loved, her bestselling Silva Rerum books. I very much enjoyed her Vilnius book, though. So much so that I […]
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1st March 2018 Canberra, Australia
He’s not Sadiq Khan, nor Boris, so who exactly is London’s 690th Lord Mayor?
Alderman Charles Bowman was elected and sworn in as the Lord Mayor of London on 10th November 2017 for the term of one-year. During his tenure the Lord Mayor will represent the City of London, often referred to as the ‘Square Mile’. This is the engine room of the UK economy, a small area but […]
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28th February 2018 Harare, Zimbabwe
UK scientists develop new fingerprinting kit for poached ivory
Can you lift fingerprints from an elephant tusk a whole month after it’s been poached? Sounds impossible – but now it’s not, thanks to the ingenuity of a team of forensic scientists in London.
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26th February 2018 Science and Innovation Network
The Newton Fund in Southeast Asia: Looking back, and looking forward
With celebrations of the New Year in the West and Chinese New Year fading, I took a moment to look back at the Newton Fund last year, and where the year ahead is likely to take us. We closed out 2017 by celebrating the Newton Prize. This Prize is given to recognise the very best […]
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23rd February 2018 Stockholm, Sweden
The Importance of Energy Storage for the Low Carbon Transition
In recent years, the UK Government has set out progressive energy policies to meet its ambitious legally binding decarbonisation target of an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, in accordance with the UK Climate Change Act of 2008. Accordingly, the UK energy system is currently undergoing a period of significant transformation that will bring […]
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22nd February 2018 Calgary, Canada
Hashtag Days: Women in Action
These days it seems every day is marked by a hashtag of some sort. Just last week we marked International Day of Women and Girls in Science (#WomeninScience) and on 6 February we marked the 100th anniversary of the British ‘Representation of People Act 1918’ (#Vote100) which first gave (some) women the right to vote. […]
22nd February 2018 Abuja, Nigeria
Disability inclusion begins with You and I
I recently organised a targeted Chevening Scholarship application workshop for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). Chevening is a holistic UK government funded scheme that prepares talented individuals for the future leadership of Nigeria, through a cultural exchange and master’s degree programme in the UK. The workshop was hosted in collaboration with the Christian Blind Mission (CBM) […]
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22nd February 2018 Vienna, Austria
What is Wassenaar? And why does it matter?
A terrorist organisation tries to buy military technology from Country A. But Country A refuses to sell. What is to stop the organisation from going to Country B and buying there? Welcome to the world of multilateral export control regimes. If you don’t know much about export control regimes, don’t worry: not many people do. […]
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