DIPLO Blog

Skip to content Aleksandra Cvetkovska Program Director, NDI North Macedonia Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 15th October 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia More Women in Politics is a Must In North Macedonia, we have fought the fight of gender equality since the country’s independence, and even though a lot has been accomplished, we are still far away from achieving full gender parity and equal opportunities. When I was asked, by the British Embassy, to write a blog post on women in politics, I welcomed it as the daily work and efforts of women politicians should always be promoted and praised. Women politicians have brought about many positive changes to other women and to society, in general, but I feel that they are not being talked about enough. Let’s start with a couple of words on women’s political participation in North Macedonia. At the moment, there are 38,3% women MPs in Parliament and 21% women ministers in Government. We have never had a wom..

Skip to content Pauline Trepczyk Climate Change Policy Officer, British Embassy Vienna Guest blogger for Leigh Turner Part of UK in Austria 15th October 2020 Vienna, Austria Debating: today’s most important skill? On 29 September the British Embassy Vienna invited young people from all over Austria to join a Debate Workshop. Youth from Salzburg, Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia as well as Vienna came together, separated by appropriate “baby elephants” (Austria’s 1.5m rule) to practice their skills. Trainers from Debattierklub Vienna, Joy Edobor and Miri Muntean, introduced the participants to the world of debating, specifically the rules of British parliamentary debates. Nerys Jones, British Deputy Head of Mission and Guiseppe Abignente, Deputy Ambassador from the Italian Embassy Vienna, opened the workshop. Debating is a big part of British culture. Debating societies emerged in London as early as the 18th Century and have been a staple ever since. Topics ranged from current events..

Skip to content Matt Field British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina 14th October 2020 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Visible Women“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) The campaign for local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina is about to begin. While there are many things we do not yet know about how those elections will run, we can be confident that women – as candidates, as decision-makers, and as voters – will be all too invisible in the campaign. And when they are to be seen, they will be presented in a more negative way than their male counterparts, they will be marginalised, abused, and their views dismissed. We know this based on previous election campaigns in BiH, and the experience of women who participate in public or political life. When the Westminster Foundation for Democracy carried out its study of the experience of women in politics in BiH, it found consistent patterns of violence against them, including attacks, threa..

Skip to content Joelle Jenny Director, Joint Funds Unit 30th October 2020 London 20 years of Women, Peace and Security Today marks 20 years since the UK led the first ever UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security. It’s an important moment to champion the crucial role women can play as actors and decision-makers at all levels in peace and political processes. Women’s participation in peace processes is essential. For reasons of equity and inclusivity of course, but also simply because peace agreements that were negotiated with the participation of women are more successful. They go deeper in addressing the wounds and trauma of war. They address the causes of the conflict, have transitional justice arrangements and consider the needs of the populations. They are more lasting, more enduring than the kinds of power arrangements that are negotiated when only the warring parties are at the table. In fact, when women meaningfully participate, the resulting agreement is 64%..

Skip to content Sian MacLeod UK Ambassador to Serbia Part of UK in Serbia 30th October 2020 Belgrade, Serbia A House in Dedinje Diplomats move house more than most people. We move between countries every two, three or four years. We move backwards and forwards to and from our own countries. Even within our home countries jobs in our foreign ministries may be spread across more than one city. I have lived in six countries outside the UK. Some of my colleagues will have lived and worked in even more. Some countries expect their diplomats to take their own furniture with them as they move around the world. British diplomats don’t do this – and haven’t done so for very many years. That makes it easier when it comes to moving. But it also means you spend most of your working life living with furniture and furnishings, and in houses, that aren’t your own. (It also means that when you walk into a British diplomat’s house or flat anywhere in the world you are quite likely to recognise your ..

Skip to content Sian MacLeod UK Ambassador to Serbia Part of UK in Serbia 9th October 2020 Belgrade, Serbia Faces of Diplomacy When I walk up the stairs to my office in the Embassy I pass a series of painted portraits and photographs of former heads of the UK’s diplomatic mission in Belgrade. Over the years our diplomatic mission has had different names and a different status. It has been a Legation, a Consulate General and, as now, a British Embassy. We are of now the UK Embassy to the Republic of Serbia. But my predecessors were accredited at different times to Serbia, the Kingdom of Serbia, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro. The portraits start with George Hodges who arrived by boat across the Danube in 1837. They continue, with some gaps, up to my predecessor Denis Keefe who left Belgrade last year. There is one very obvious difference between me and all the diplomats in the portraits: they are all men. ..

Skip to content Dominic Otway Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy Skopje Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 8th October 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia Secrets of writing a good Chevening application We’re always excited when we launch the annual Chevening Scholarship fund. We’ll be spending the next few weeks hoping to encourage as many good quality applications as possible before the closing date on 3 November. Through a scholarship you can gain a world-class education, experience the UK’s diverse and welcoming culture, and become part of the lifelong Chevening community. A Chevening Scholarship offers full financial support by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organisations. And if you are passionate about creating positive change in the communities around you, you are the person we are looking for! I’ve spent the past two years here chairing the panel which shortlists and later interviews applicants. I’ve seen some ..

Skip to content Adnan Muminović Chevening Scholar Guest blogger for Matt Field 8th October 2020 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina When things appear too good to be true, they usually are. Except for when they are not… About a year ago, I decided to quit my job in Sarajevo and move to London in order to pursue my second master’s in something called Psychology of Economic Life. Inevitably, as part of that decision, several others had to be made as well. Those included, but were not limited to, the decision to trade a well-paying job for a life on a student budget; strong ties with people I love most in the world for what would, at least initially, be strangers; and my own comfortable place in Sarajevo for a flat share in London. In short, I had decided to trade the known for the unknown. Back in Sarajevo, reminiscing about the past twelve months and writing these lines, I ask myself whether it was worth it. Would I do it again? Oh, absolutely! And, honestly, so should you… For all those ..

Skip to content Sian MacLeod UK Ambassador to Serbia Part of UK in Serbia 2nd October 2020 Belgrade, Serbia Weather Reports Grey and windy in London; wet in Vienna; sunny in Skopje; ‘improbably sunny’ in Dublin; sultry in Lisbon… Online meetings of British Ambassadors often start with friendly chat that sounds a bit like a global weather forecast. After all, talking about the weather is something that British people are famous for. British diplomats are no exception. There is a good reason why we talk about the weather so much in the UK – it’s because, being a country with a long coast line and a small land mass, our weather is rather changeable and unpredictable. Diplomats take many habits with them when they go abroad – and for British diplomats talking about the weather is one of them. I think it’s rather an nice habit that helps us communicate with all sorts of people on uncontroversial ground. With our own colleagues around the UK’s diplomatic network it’s a nice way of reconnect..

Skip to content Rachel Galloway Her Majesty's Ambassador to North Macedonia Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 30th September 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia A hidden gem in the Pelagonia region Two years into my posting as British Ambassador to North Macedonia, September was my first month working for the recently merged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the whole team coming back fully into the Embassy and adapting to the “new normal”. With my Embassy team, we have been working remotely and in groups from the office since the beginning of the pandemic. Even though the pandemic continues to leave its footprint on all of us, we must continue to build back stronger. It was in this mood, that we decided to, safely and carefully, restart visits to local cities in North Macedonia to build relationships, discuss and strengthen ongoing cooperation, find new opportunities for UK/North Macedonia to work together, and also see the landscape, sce..