29th November 2012 Beirut, Lebanon
I’ve blogged previously about our work with the Palestinian veterans who fought with us in World War II, and questions of history and justice. Today is the Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Attention will rightly be focused on New York, where – just as Israel did in 1948 – Palestine is making […]
24th October 2012
The UN General Assembly is currently discussing the terms of a resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. It is likely to go to a vote next month. The last time there was such a vote (in 2010), 109 states were in favour, 41 against, and 35 abstained. The United Kingdom and […]
27th September 2012
On 25 September, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague co-hosted an event at the UN General Assembly alongside Zainab Bangura, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. He spoke about his Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), launched in London last May. The PSVI aims to strengthen international efforts and co-ordination to prevent and […]
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14th September 2012 Athens, Greece
During the last years Greece has become a host country for many labor migrants. The education policy concerning the children of those migrant families has however still room for development. As the legitimacy status for many immigrant families remains uncertain or unclear due to delays in completing applications for residence permits, the children’s inclusion in […]
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13th September 2012
The UN International Day of Democracy falls on 15 September, a day on which Governments are encouraged to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy. The theme this year is Democracy Education. As the relevant UN web-page notes: “It is only with educated citizens that a sustainable culture of democracy can […]
19th July 2012 Geneva, Switzerland
It was a strange June Council session. By starting much later this year, it felt like school had been punishingly extended for 3 extra weeks, just as the bell should have been granting us our summer freedom. Everyone did their best to wear their polite, professional faces. But the truth was, we all wanted to […]
22nd June 2012 USA
The following is a guest blog from UKTI Los Angeles Vice-Consul Mike Rosenfeld. Mike leads UKTI’s Clean Technology sector in the USA and has significant expertise in renewable energy and environmental technologies. He has served as Vice-Consul with UK Trade & Investment since 2003. All eyes are on Rio de Janeiro this week as policymakers, […]
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7th June 2012 Geneva, Switzerland
The much awaited second round of the Universal Periodic Review finished its first session on Monday. There’s general agreement in these parts that the UPR has been a big success since it began 4 years ago, so the second round began with more excitement than you get at a diplomat’s house on Eurovision night. Without […]
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21st May 2012 Washington DC, USA
The countdown clock in our Embassy tells me that the that the London 2012 opening ceremony is barely two months away. The Olympic Torch has begun its tour of the UK. All around the world, athletes are qualifying for their national teams. Here in the US, the first goosebump-raising, Morgan Freeman-voiced Olympics ad hit the […]
21st May 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
This week the Roadmap signatories meet in Addis. Their aim? To resolve a number of outstanding issues relating to the political process. And it’s vital they do. Over the next few months, the Signatories have an historic opportunity to make real progress and help Somalia move forward towards greater stability. Theirs is a challenging agenda: […]
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