11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
26th February 2026
Different Memories, Shared Futures: Why Inclusive Remembrance Matters for Serbia and the Region
8th March 2017 London, UKLondon, UK
Women leading British diplomacy across Europe
“I would venture to guess than Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman” – Virginia Woolf hit the nail on the head. Too often the incredible work and leadership provided by women has been obscured by modesty, self-doubt, or in some cases outright sexism. The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth […]
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8th March 2017 Guatemala City
Emmeline Pankhurst and Gladys Lanza: being bold for change
Emmeline Pankhurst, the suffragette who led the fight – and it really was a fight – for women’s right to vote in the UK at the turn of the 20th century, is Manchester’s most famous daughter. I feel a particular affinity to her, not only because Manchester is my home town, but also because her […]
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8th March 2017
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Shifting Dynamics
I am one of 20 women ambassadors at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. We are 35% of the total (possibly the highest proportion at any multilateral organisation?). Women are also well represented at other levels in many OSCE delegations. It has been suggested to me that this might be because the OSCE […]
8th March 2017 Vienna, Austria
How to break the barriers that hold back women and girls
When I was in Kyiv, some Ukrainian colleagues used to express scepticism about International Women’s Day. They saw it as tokenism; a relic of the bad old days when Soviet authorities gave lip-service to women’s rights while men dominated positions of power. One result was that although I wrote several blogs to mark International Women’s […]
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8th March 2017 Geneva, Switzerland
Shining A Spotlight On The World’s Human Rights Problems
The March session of the Human Rights Council is the most significant event in the UN human rights calendar. Well over a hundred ministers were in Geneva for the first week, last week. So now is a good time to take stock of the significance of this body and why it matters. To some it […]
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8th March 2017 London, UK
The world would be a better place if all girls went to school
I am always dubious about so-called silver bullets that allegedly solve a host of problems. “Life can’t be that simple,” I think. “Surely there must be a catch?” But there is one step that would improve countless lives — and make the world an infinitely better place — if only every government summoned the will […]
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8th March 2017 Gaborone, Botswana
#BeBoldForChange: Celebrating Women and Men as equal partners in society this International Women’s Day
Did you know that up until 1972, if you were a woman in the British Diplomatic Service, you had to resign if you got married? Nobody is really sure how this policy came about, but thankfully wiser minds have long since prevailed. Now both male and female diplomats equally find ways to combine family and […]
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7th March 2017 Science Innovation USA
From STEM to STEAM: Science and Art Go Hand-in-Hand
A Conversation with Rosie Grayburn, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Getty Conservation Institute In recognition of International Women’s Day, I interviewed a very inspiring female scientist working here in Los Angeles. Rosie’s career illustrates the strong science ties between the US and the UK, as she originally hails from England. Can you tell me a little bit about […]
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7th March 2017 Science Innovation USA
Science Belongs to Humanity…Or Does It?
A Guest Blog by the Women of the Science and Innovation Network Science knows no country because knowledge belongs to humanity and it is the torch that illuminates the world- Louis Pasteur This beautiful quote sums up why networks like HMG’s Science and Innovation Network (SIN) are so important, and why collaborating on science and […]
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7th March 2017 Vancouver, Canada
International Women’s Day: changing the narrative
When I was on a posting in Ukraine in the early 2000s, International Women’s Day was largely considered to be a quirky remnant from a socialist era…
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