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Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

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16th May 2014 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO)

Guest blogger Andrew Carter: 17 May is an important date in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) calendar – a time for people around the world to celebrate sexual and gender diversities, and say ‘no’ to homophobic and transphobic discrimination, prejudice and violence. Working in South Africa, I am hugely impressed by the progressive constitution […]

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19th March 2014 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

PM Trade Envoy sees GREAT partnership opportunities in South Africa

Baroness Scotland at the GUILD International Design Fair in Cape Town

Guest blog by the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to South Africa Baroness Patricia Scotland As the UK celebrated the extraordinary life of former South Africa President Nelson Mandela with a vibrant service in Westminster Abbey I travelled to a very rainy Johannesburg to begin the latest series of engagements in my role as Prime Minister’s […]

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9th October 2013 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

World Day against the Death Penalty

10 October is World Day against the Death Penalty. Since 2003, people all over the world have, on this day, been making clear their opposition to this form of punishment. Like many people who live in countries which, like South Africa and the UK, have abolished the death penalty, I don’t actually think about it that often.

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9th August 2013 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

Marking National Women’s Day in South Africa

Guest blog, written by Sarah Dunn, Head of DfID Southern Africa. On National Women’s Day, I’m reminded of how many women leaders I have as colleagues, including the British High Commissioner, Dame Nicola Brewer and her successor Judith MacGregor. In a recent meeting with South African colleagues, our counterpart commented on how “empowered” our delegation […]

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30th July 2013 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

Food is GREAT Britain in South Africa

David Edmondson works at the British Consulate General Cape Town building commercial relationships in The Cape and supporting UK companies across South Africa in the Food and Drink, Agribusiness, Tourism and Leisure and Marine sectors. His colleagues in Cape Town focus on the Design and Creative sectors and they are part of a large UK […]

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18th July 2013 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

Celebrating Mandela Day

A blog by Nick Monkhouse, British High Commission Pretoria. Today, 18 July 2013, is Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday. It is also Nelson Mandela Day, recognised by the UN and around the world as a day which seeks to inspire people to take action to help change the world for the better. As South Africa and […]

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14th June 2013 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

G8 2013: taxes, transparency and trade. What could be more exciting?

The G8 There are just a few days left before world leaders convene in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, on 17-18 June for the G8 Summit. It makes me recall my first job in the Foreign Office – G8 Desk Officer for our 2005 Presidency. Talk about the deep end – just eight months after starting, […]

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25th January 2013 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

WWF secondment helping develop new policy area

Guest Blog from Suzanne Carter, Climate Change Officer Many UK staff take a secondment into another government department over the course of their careers as civil servants but is there a way to replicate this exposure (on a smaller scale) for Locally Engaged Staff? My line manger thought it was at least worth a try! […]

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26th November 2012 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

Prevention of Gender Based Violence

I have just returned from a visit to South Africa’s Eastern Cape – one of the three provinces we cover from the Consulate-General in Cape Town (the Western and Northern Capes are the other two provinces). As well as Port Elizabeth and East London, I visited the rural towns of Craddock, Bedford and Graaf-Reinet, talking […]

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13th November 2012 Cape Town, South Africa

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by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

President Pohamba visits South Africa

As you may remember, though I’m based at the Consulate-General in Cape Town, I’m also accredited as the Deputy High Commissioner in Namibia (to support our team there). The historic visit this week by Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba to South Africa presented me with a rare chance to mix the two roles. On Tuesday (6 […]

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About Simon Atkinson

Simon Atkinson was born and spent the first 9 years of his life in New Zealand, before his family moved to the less leafy suburbs of Wallington, South London. After…

Simon Atkinson was born and spent the first 9 years of his life in New Zealand, before his family moved to the less leafy suburbs of Wallington, South London. After university at Leeds and 4 years teaching English and working for NGOs in Europe and South America, Simon joined the UK Foreign Office. His first overseas posting was in India, where he was a political officer covering issues like counter-proliferation and the relationship between India and its neighbours. He was also the Commonwealth Games Attaché during Delhi’s 2010 Games.

Cape Town is his second and current posting. His role here is dual hatted – as Deputy Consul General, he supports the Consul General manage the office, and as the Head of the Political Team, he covers the whole gambit of South African policy (though being based in Cape Town means this is heavily focused on domestic policies and Parliament).

Simon is married to Gina, who also works for the Foreign Office. They enjoy being in South Africa, as both a fascinating country to cover politically and wonderful place to live, allowing them to pursue their passion for the outdoors and perfect their ability to ‘braai’ (not that they’re under any illusion about how often they’ll get to demonstrate this skill once they return to the UK)!