3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
8th April 2022 Geneva, Switzerland
It was 20 years ago today…
On 8 April 2002, I started working at the UK Mission to the UN. I’d had no diplomatic experience. At all. And I’d never been to a UN meeting. I’d only ever been to Geneva once – for my interview, which I started off by spilling water all over the table (I’ve always had a […]
29th March 2022 Geneva, Switzerland
Disarmament blog: an extraordinary month
It’s just over a month now since the Russian armed forces launched their unprovoked, premeditated and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s attack is an assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and an egregious violation of the United Nations Charter. Its use of indiscriminate force against innocent civilians is barbaric, and amounts to war crimes. […]
Read more on Disarmament blog: an extraordinary month | Reply
28th March 2022 Belgrade, Serbia
The myth of russophobia
People around the world have watched in horror and disbelief as Russian military hardware wreaks death and destruction across Ukraine. Moscow’s decision to launch a brutal and bloody war is illegal and unjustified. It is unsurprising that the world has moved quickly to condemn the invasion, and actions such as targeting of maternity hospitals and […]
24th March 2022
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Marvellous Miss Irby
“Here lies the body of Adeline Paulina Irby A great benefactress Of the Servian People in Bosnia-Herzegovina” Educator. Writer. Humanitarian. Suffragist. I will start by admitting that I did not know the name Adeline Paulina Irby before I began this job. In fact, when I picked up the shiny first edition of ‘Žene BiH’, it […]
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 […]
Read more on 66th Commission on the Status of Women: my trip to the UN | Reply
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 […]
Read more on Turning back the clock: the Kremlin’s war on truth | Reply
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 […]
Read more on Innovative Finance for Mine Action: the Wilton Park conference | Reply
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 […]
Read more on International Women’s Day and the UK government’s new partnership with the private sector | Reply (1)
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 […]
Read more on Ukraine: a choice between right and wrong | Reply