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
23rd March 2022
66th Commission on the Status of Women: my trip to the UN
Last week, I had the honour of attending the 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations, New York. CSW is the biggest annual forum for defending and promoting women and girls’ rights around the world. The UK was well represented at CSW, with a delegation of inspirational women including the […]
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18th March 2022 Belgrade, Serbia
Turning back the clock: the Kremlin’s war on truth
A Russian-British journalist friend, speaking on air this week, observed that ‘violence and propaganda go hand in hand’. He suggested that people accept propaganda and lies because of fear, and because the truth is too terrible to contemplate. Perhaps that helps explain the attempts of Russian representatives who had no part in the decision, to […]
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17th March 2022 Geneva, Switzerland
Innovative Finance for Mine Action: the Wilton Park conference
The FCDO’s Demining Team and the UK Mission Geneva partnered with our colleagues at Wilton Park to organise a Conference on Innovative Finance for Mine Action at Wiston House on 7 to 9 March. States Parties to both the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) have committed to explore […]
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8th March 2022
International Women’s Day and the UK government’s new partnership with the private sector
This International Women’s Day, I am very proud to share details of our new Girls’ Education Skills Partnership, launched by the Prime Minister last night. Boris Johnson appointed me his Special Envoy for Girls’ Education just over a year ago. In that time, I have seen first-hand that investing in girls’ education truly is a […]
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7th March 2022
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Why Ukraine matters to us all
Blog post by Serhii Miniailo, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of Ukraine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Matt Field, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Bosnia and Herzegovina The horrific scenes from Ukraine shock us all, wherever we are in the world. We see burning buildings, terrified civilians and lines of […]
2nd March 2022 Belgrade, Serbia
Ukraine: a choice between right and wrong
The world watched with horror as Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to launch an unprovoked, unjustified and illegal attack upon Ukraine. People all around the world have witnessed with admiration the extraordinary calm courage shown by the people of Ukraine. As a young diplomat I first travelled to Ukraine in the late 1980s. I was in Moscow […]
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7th February 2022 United Kingdom
‘Build the Future’ National Apprenticeship Week 2022
Why I chose to do an apprenticeship with the FCDO Prior to joining FCO in 2019, I have been applying to join the Civil Service for more than three years and on countless occasions I was unsuccessful. I had then developed an interest to become an accountant and then the opportunity came to join the then FCO and to also study […]
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24th January 2022
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
An end to BiH’s consequence-free environment
Serving as UK Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) continues to be the most rewarding, challenging, and frustrating experience of my professional career. The challenges and frustrations stem from the near constant turmoil experienced by the country, the destabilising activities and self-interest of many of its leaders, and the failure to improve the quality of […]
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21st January 2022 Kolkata
UK and India celebrate the Living Bridge of Cricket at Eden Gardens
‘Kuunganisha’ in the Swahili language means ‘bonding’. That’s exactly what I witnessed during the ‘Indo British Heritage Cup’ in Kolkata last month. The international cricket match was in its second edition and organised by the London-based Bengal Heritage Foundation (BHF). BHF works closely with British Council Kolkata and the Indo-British Scholars Association (IBSA) to preserve […]
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14th January 2022
My first year in Antananarivo
It is a year this week since I first arrived in Madagascar to head the excellent British Embassy team. So here are 10 of my many fond memories of these past 12 months. Presenting credentials in Madagascar and Comoros. Initially nerve-wracking, trying to ensure I didn’t make mistakes in formal French, but actually enjoyable. President Rajoelina […]