DIPLO Blog

Skip to content Nina Forgwe Political and Programmes Officer, Cameroon Guest blogger for FCO Careers 12th March 2020 Nina Forgwe: Success, what success? Nina Forgwe, Political and Programmes Officer, CameroonAs part of our Women’s History Month campaign, #RedefiningSuccess, we have asked our colleagues from across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to share what success means to them. Here, Nina Forgwe shares her definition. Success, what success?I come from a family where my siblings and I are all university educated. I have travelled the world a fair bit. Some consider me successful. I have a great job. But, I also come from a community where the success narrative for a woman is dominated by three solid tests; marriage, child bearing and the needs of the home and husband. A successful woman is one who excels at all three. I failed at all three. I bought into that narrative so completely that a year ago, I was a failure. There was no pitty-patter of tiny feet. In the eyes of my husb..

Skip to content Simon Cleobury UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament 11th March 2020 Geneva, Switzerland Blog: Understanding the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Working on nuclear issues is hard – not only understanding the science behind it, but also its complicated politics and history. To help me do nuclear diplomacy better, I wanted to improve my awareness of how the nuclear fuel cycle works. That is why earlier this year I visited five nuclear sites – three in the UK and two in France. My visit to the UK nuclear sites was organised by the Ministry of Defence and the National Nuclear Laboratory. Over the three days, we visited Capenhurst, a uranium enrichment site; Springfields, where uranium is converted into fuel for use in reactors; and Sellafield, where spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed. The sites at Capenhurst and Sellafield produced the UK’s fissile materials for its nuclear weapons, prior to the moratorium on new production in 1995. The visits helped me t..

Skip to content Leigh Turner Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna Part of UK in Austria 8th March 2020 Vienna, Austria Maiden – awesome, inspirational women on the big screen I recently had co-hosted a special premiere of Maiden, the gripping story of how Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old Briton, became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World race in 1989. The race, today known as the Volvo Ocean Race, was a brutal competition comprised of six legs totalling 32,000 nautical miles. The screening was organised by UN Vienna to mark International Womens’ Day on Sunday 8 March. The film is about defiance and determination. Tracy undertook huge personal risks, including mortgaging her own house to embark on her endeavor which was met with dismissive comments and condescending coverage from colleagues and male sports journalists. These are retold – with starting can..

Skip to content Natasha Dimitrovska Gender Specialist and Chevening Scholar Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 7th March 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia International Women’s Day of solidarity and unity!The past year was very eventful for women’s rights and feminism. On a global level, among other events, the #metoo movement has been growing stronger, bringing down some very privileged and powerful men, a feminist song originated in Chile spread across the globe, pointing the finger at the systemic violence women endure around the world, and women finally got the deserved place in missions to space. On the other hand, women’s reproductive rights and freedoms got to a halt with the reinstated global gag rule, feminists increasingly face backlash by right-wing governments, and the home is still the most unsafe place for a woman. Turning to the Balkan region and North Macedonia, advancements seem to be going at a much slower pace. Female politicians, espec..

Skip to content Kristina Hadzi Vasileva Managing Director at Strategic Development Consulting and Chevening Scholar Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 6th March 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia 8 March – How far have we come?The first week of March is always so intense for me. Not that there are no such other weeks during the year (family birthdays, new years’, vacation preparations..). Yet during the first week of March everyone and anyone suddenly remembers us, women. Flowers are sold on improvised stalls of cardboard boxes on every corner, presents are bought and given, dinners organized and celebrated with music and dancing. TV shows are hosted with the sole topic of discussing women’s rights, gender equality, domestic violence, political participation of women, women’s economic advancement. The reason, as you might guess is 8 of March. Recognized as international women’s day, this date celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievem..

Skip to content Leigh Turner Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna Part of UK in Austria 5th March 2020 Vienna, Austria Authors you should read moreI’m looking at my bookshelf at home when I notice a weird similarity to the rogues’ gallery of former British ambassadors to Austria in the embassy. My bookshelf is dominated by male authors. The rogues’ gallery for Vienna is exclusively male, up until my excellent predecessor, Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque (in Vienna 2012-16). Male domination of both literature and diplomacy belongs in the past. Despite their relative rarity on my bookshelves, I enjoy many women authors: a quick scout turned up Jane Austen (“Pride and Prejudice” – a fantastically elegant, and funny, book); Charlotte Bronte (“Jane Eyre”); AS Byatt (“Possession”); Jung Chang (“Wild Swans”); Jackie Collins (“Hollywood Wives” – my tastes are eclectic); George Eliot (“Middlemarch” – one ..

Skip to content Leigh Turner Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna Part of UK in Austria 28th February 2020 Vienna, Austria My Welsh Great-Grandfather, literature and football 1 March is St David’s Day, named after the patron saint of Wales who died in 589. I’m part-Welsh: my great-grandfather John Derfel (photo above) came from the the town of Llanderfel in north Wales and was the son of the Welsh poet and political writer Robert Jones Derfel (for the Welsh-language Wikipedia entry, click here). According to family lore, Robert Jones Derfel took the name “Derfel” because the winner of the Bardic poem at the national Eisteddfod, a Welsh festival of literature, music and performance, was encouraged to take his birthplace as a last name as a distinction. The name “Derfel” continues in our family to this day. I recently learned that a digital version of his works is in the archive of the National Librar..

Skip to content Nick Pearson Pro Consul at the British Consulate-General Guest blogger for UK in Australia Part of UK in Australia 28th February 2020 Canberra, Australia What matters to me on the day before the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade Nick Pearson our Pro Consul at the Consulate-General office in SydneyEvery year it is hard to miss the signs that the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras season is upon us. While permanent reminders of Sydney’s support for the LGBTQI community – such as the iconic Rainbow Crossing in Taylor Square – remain with us year-round, it is fair to say the city shifts into gear as the Mardi Gras parade approaches. Whether it is a more civic reminder, such as a rainbow flag flying above Sydney Town Hall, or something more vibrant like a drag queen passing by at a pedestrian crossing en route to a performance in a city pub, the visibility of the LGBTQI community in Sydney truly reaches an all-time high at this time of year. Culminating in a parade drawi..

Skip to content Aidan Liddle UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament 21st February 2020 Geneva, Switzerland Disarmament blog: the P5 meet in London Last week saw a major milestone in preparations for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in April, when the five NPT Nuclear Weapon States met at Lancaster House in London for their ninth annual ‘P5’ conference. We began the Conference by welcoming the new RevCon President-designate, Gustavo Zlauvinen of Argentina, and the chairs of the three Main Committees, collectively known as the Bureau. It was useful to hear more about what they thought the key issues for the RevCon would be, what a successful outcome might look like, and what they thought the P5 could do to help achieve it. In the afternoon, we continued the P5 Conference tradition of a civil society segment. This one was bigger and better than ever: thanks to our partners at King’s College London and the European Leadershi..

Skip to content Matt Field British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Part of #BeyondPlastic UK in Bosnia and Herzegovina 13th February 2020 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina What will you do? In November this year, the UK and Italy will together host the UN Climate Change Conference, popularly called COP 26, in Glasgow. It is a great responsibility, but one which both of our governments are enthusiastic and determined to deliver on. The situation facing all of us today is critical. The science is clear – climate change is real and it is threatening our future. Current actions fall far short of what is needed to limit the catastrophic damage to our lives, and those of our children. It is already evident in the extreme weather we see more of – droughts, flooding, storms, and melting ice caps – and we can expect more ahead of us. It will massively impact on our food production, our health, and our very lives. Our oceans are increasingly full of plastic, our biodiversity shrinking, and ..