DIPLO Blog

Skip to content Paul Brummell Head of Soft Power and External Affairs Department, Communication Directorate 3rd September 2019 London,UK In praise of London’s parks Brasilia’s City Park, named after Sarah Kubitschek, the spouse of the President responsible for the founding of the city in the late 1950s, covers an area of more than 900 acres. It has some impressive features, including modernist toilet blocks decorated with ceramic tiles from Brazilian master Athos Bulcao. I was intrigued to see that, courtesy of an organisation called Seminovos, promoting running among the over 50s, it also boasts its own anthem, entitled “Liberty”. Refrain: “Liberty, where do you live? I’m here, I live in the park.” While Brasilia’s City Park impresses for its size, I’ve found few urban parks around the world to rival the finest of London’s parks. Here’s my modest attempt at, if not quite a stirring anthem, at least a piece of poetry in their honour. It may perhaps be closer to McGonagall than Byron, ..

Skip to content Aidan Liddle UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament Part of Conference on Disarmament 2nd September 2019 Geneva, Switzerland Disarmament blog: back to school As August turns to September, the traffic jams return to Geneva and the evenings start drawing in. People start returning from the beaches or mountains. It’s ‘back to school’ time. In fact, the disarmament community has been back at work since 29 July, when the CD resumed its 2019 session. So I feel like I’ve been back at school for a month already, not least because August is the time for two important sets of experts’ meetings. I’ve got a lot out of listening to and learning from the impressive array of expertise on offer. The first was the Meetings of Experts (MX) of the Biological Weapons Convention, looking at various scientific, technological and institutional aspects of how the Convention operates. There were presentations from national experts, researchers and internati..

Skip to content FCO Editorial 30th August 2019 UK nationals living in Spain: your healthcare access after Brexit We understand that recent media reports about the impact of Brexit on the rights of UK nationals living in Spain may have caused concern to UK citizens living in Europe. We want to make clear the actions that UK nationals in Spain need to take to continue living and working in Spain as they do now, as well as reassuring those who need to access healthcare and pensions. We are working with our embassies, including in Spain, to help UK nationals get ready for Brexit. This week we announced an extra £3 million fund for charities so they can assist you with your residency applications. Your healthcareThe Spanish Government has taken steps to ensure that resident UK nationals and UK tourists visiting Spain will be able to access healthcare after Brexit until at least 31 December 2020. This is the case whether we leave the EU with or without a deal. The UK is working with other E..

Skip to content Leigh Turner Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna 29th August 2019 Vienna, Austria After three years, more #keenonWien than ever Vienna's Stephansdom in all its glory, a must-see for any visitor in the Austrian capitalToday I am celebrating my three-year anniversary in Vienna. A lot has happened since I stepped off the train from London (via Salzburg) in August 2016. Together with my team at the Embassy we have have done a lot of work on Brexit – including doing our best to make sure that all 11,000 Brits in Austria will be able to continue to live and work in this country. We have also had the Austrian EU Presidency; arranged countless senior visits to Vienna; and initiated great projects on culture, science and education cooperation. To do my job properly I believe it is vital to understand Austria as well as possible. I therefore make a big effort to get out and about, in Vie..

Skip to content Rachel Galloway British Ambassador to North Macedonia Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 28th August 2019 Skopje, North Macedonia Poetry, education, diverse cultures and traditions – my first visit to Struga As much as I enjoy living and working in Skopje, it’s always a great pleasure when I get to visit other places across the country. Last week I had the honour of attending the opening of the Struga Poetry Festival, the world’s oldest consecutive running poetry festival. It was moving to hear poets from around the world use such different language and languages to evoke emotion and story. But I could not go to the poetry festival and not to take the opportunity to see Struga itself. Myself and my colleagues from the Embassy were a little jealous as we went between meetings seeing all the people enjoying the cool waters of the lake and drinking coffee in the breeze. However we still got a flavour of the city. Meeting with Mayor Ramiz..

Skip to content Christopher Pincher Minister of State (Minister for Europe and the Americas) 22nd August 2019 London Travelling to the EU or live there? Get ready for Brexit The UK is leaving the EU on 31 October and we are making all necessary preparations to ensure we are ready. This includes making sure UK travellers to the EU and UK nationals living in the EU are prepared. If this is you – or you have friends and family involved – then please read on… UK travellers to the EUEurope is our most popular travel destination with around 60 million visits to the EU every year. Once we leave, people need to be ready to travel to the EU after Brexit by doing 4 things: checking passports (if you have less than 6 months left)getting travel insurance – make sure you’re coveredchecking driving permits (you may need extra documents)making sure your pet can travel (allow 4 months to arrange).For more information visit our journey planner. UK nationals living in the EUThere are more than one mill..

Skip to content Matt Field British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina 22nd August 2019 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Creativity – It’s Good Business This week, like many others, I have been enjoying the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF). I feel particularly lucky that my first as UK Ambassador was the 25th SFF (I will admit to having sneaked in unofficially last year, just before I began my mandate). I am still star struck after seeing two of my favourite directors on stage to receive their ‘hearts’, Iñárritu and Pawlikowski, and a masterclass from Tim Roth. As usual, the festival has brought together a wide-reaching and exciting programme, which challenges as much as it inspires. As critic Roger Ebert put it, a film is a machine for generating empathy, and this year I have been transported to lives in a neglected French suburb, a rich Korean home, a Bosnian mahala, a US gospel concert, and many more places. Documentaries always have a special place for me, including this year’s bril..

Skip to content Carolyn Davidson Her Majesty’s Ambassador for Guatemala Part of UK in Guatemala 19th August 2019 Guatemala City, Guatemala Saving the Planet In my last blog I talked about the power of British film and TV (and music). Today I want to make a very ambitious claim – that British TV is saving the planet, or at least helping to save the planet. In 2017 the famous British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough made a programme – Blue Planet 2 – which had a global impact. Like all his programmes (and I have been watching them since I was a teenager – a long time ago!) Blue Planet 2 had some remarkable footage of the natural world in which we live and the amazing creatures, large and small, which inhabit it and, importantly, preserve it. The final episode of the programme showed, in glorious technicolour, the devastating effects of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. As a picture paints a thousand words, the impact of the images of turtles tangled up in plastic bag..

About DFAT Communications and Parliamentary Branch at the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Latest Posts By DFAT 06.20.19Improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Myanmar05.08.19Last M Series Passport retires on May 1104.08.19Foreign investment in Australia delivers many benefits03.29.19Providing sustainable and inclusive WASH solutions in Timor-Leste03.08.19International Women’s Day – We are More Powerful Together Category Aid Tags Humanitarian, Humanitarian response, World Humanitarian Day %d bloggers like this:

20 Jun 2019 — DFAT Improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Myanmar Access to sexual and reproductive health services are vital for young people to understand their bodies, protect their health and realise their full potential. Through our Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), Australia supports organisations like Burnet Institute to deliver quality sexual and reproductive health education to vulnerable individuals and communities in our region. By Lia Jacqueline Burns, Myanmar Country Program Manager at Burnet Institute Burnet Institute (BI) has a strong track record of using evidence-based approaches to improve access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services, and I’m proud to contribute to their work to improve the SRH of young people in Myanmar. Thirty (30) percent of the population in Myanmar are under 30 years old[1] and are a critical socio-economic resource during the current political, economic and social transition. ..