Global conversations
To mark International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia on 17 May, the Executive Director of NGO Kaleidoscope Trust, Lance Price, has written a guest blog. We set up the Kaleidoscope Trust as the only UK-based charity working exclusively on international LGBT rights only last year. From the very beginning we have been delighted by the support and encouragement we’ve received from the British government, and the FCO in particular, but … Read more »It should never be a crime to be gay
Today we launched Human Rights and Democracy: The 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report. It’s the third year I’ve been involved in the launch of the FCO’s annual human rights report, and each year, we’ve been increasing our online activity to promote it. As with last year, the report is available online at www.fco.gov.uk/hrdreport, where visitors can read, print, share and comment on the report as a whole or by … Read more »Human rights and democracy – read, comment and share
Today is International Women’s Day. Last year, I marked this by writing about five women who have inspired me. To my surprise, it was my most read blog last year – I think personal stories of those who influence our hopes and aspirations can touch a nerve. For me, the theme of inspiration continues this year. For the fourth episode in our human rights podcast series, I interviewed two people … Read more »“The next President of Libya is probably in primary school somewhere now, and she’s going to be great”
It feels like more than a year’s worth of human rights developments have taken place in the last 12 months. Given events in the Middle East and elsewhere, the FCO’s 2011 Human Rights and Democracy Report should make interesting reading. Since we launched the online Human Rights and Democracy: The 2010 Foreign & Commonwealth Report on 31 March 2011, we have been publishing updates on developments in our 26 countries … Read more »Human rights reporting – the next iteration
Saturday 10 December is International Human Rights Day, the annual event commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations. I’m particularly excited about the UN focus this year of social media and human rights. Given events in the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere this year, this seems a fitting theme. During 2011 we’ve witnessed how the Internet and social media applications can give … Read more »Social media and human rights – a complex relationship
Guest blog by Louise Hopper, Political Officer, British Embassy Tripoli. I have been in Tripoli for couple of months now, and so much has happened since I arrived. Qadhafi has been killed, Libya has been officially liberated and a new transitional Prime Minister has been appointed. Our Embassy has been kept busy with visits from the British Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and the NATO Secretary-General. But some of … Read more »Here come the girls
The title of this blog is one of the stranger comments we’ve received via social media recently in relation to the London Conference on Cyberspace. On 1 and 2 November, the Foreign Office brought together people from government, industry and civil society, with the first time aim of developing a collective understanding of how to make the most of the Internet and associated digital technologies. The Conference was the first … Read more »The Internet is like a watermelon on a plate… and other tales from #LondonCyber
Few would dispute that the internet has been one of most powerful instruments in enabling freedom of expression over the past decade – if not the most powerful. The internet is not just a common area – it’s the largest common area that has ever existed, where anyone from anywhere in the world can be heard by anyone else with access to the internet. Or so the theory goes. Today … Read more »Supporting freedom in our largest common space – join the debate
Today we launched the first episode of our new podcast series on human rights. It focuses on the situation in Burma, and in particular, the struggles of Burmese comic and political prisoner Zarganar – one of the regime’s most open critics. Zarganar is the focus of the film ‘This Prison Where I Live’, which the Foreign Office is screening on 15 September. Find out how to attend by liking the … Read more »Podcasting for human rights: a new series
Guest blog from Francesca Walker, intern in the Human Rights and Democracy Department, Foreign & Commonwealth Office. As a student in the Human Rights and Democracy Department (HRDD) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), I’ve had the unique opportunity to experience a great range of the human rights work done by the FCO. I’m a third year student at King’s College London and came in on the Partner University … Read more »Human rights and democracy: an intern’s perspective