23rd April 2012
Today, 23rd April, the Flag of St George is flying over the British Embassy in Addis Ababa. And it’s a timely reminder of yet another historical link between Britain (in this case, specifically England) and Ethiopia – the fact that we share a patron saint. We don’t know much about St George. He was soldier […]
17th April 2012
Ukraine is, with Russia, amongst the countries in Europe with the highest rates of HIV infection. In Ukraine around 60 people are infected daily and over 235,000 people live with HIV/AIDS. So I was delighted when Alliance Ukraine, a member of the Brighton-based International HIV/AIDS Alliance, organised a visit to Ukraine recently by Lord Fowler, […]
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7th March 2012
This time last year I published a blog, Ambassadors in high heels, drawing attention to the importance of female diplomats both as high-impact top performers and as role models. This recorded the excellent tale of our then ambassador in Baku, Carolyn Browne, discussing with upwardly-mobile female diplomats in Azerbaijan the potential conflict between looking one’s […]
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6th January 2012
In January 2011, I wrote a blog called “Is Ukraine free?” In it, I noted that for 2011, in the ranking produced by the US-based NGO Freedom House, Ukraine fell back into the “Partly Free” category, having been in the “Free” category every year since 2005. Being in the “Partly Free” category, with a score […]
30th December 2011
With the New Year looming, here are 12 of my blogs from 2011: January: Is Ukraine Free? (Freedom House rankings) February: MI6, Art and Freedoms (“A Year with MI6”) March: Brilliant British Business in Ukraine (British Business Days) March: Down Syndrome: “Let Us In!” (Down Syndrome in the UK and Ukraine) April: What I think […]
30th November 2011
Last year I wrote a blog about three big seizures of cocaine in Ukraine. So I was interested when the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) held a seminar on counter-narcotics recently for Ukrainian and Moldovan law enforcement agencies. The seminar took place in the EUBAM HQ in Odesa and involved 18 Ukrainian participants from the […]
17th November 2011
Three young Ukrainians approach me at a conference. Having confirmed my identity, they take me to one side to say how much they have enjoyed doing Masters degrees in the UK and how different it was from their previous experience. I blogged recently about the “WorldWideStudies” programme of the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation to give outstanding […]
10th November 2011
The metal of the factory gleams in the sun. Around it, gathered on walkways around three steel structures and massed in the space in front, stand hundreds of workers, some in hard hats, others in lab coats or shirts and ties. Welcome to the world of Igor Gaidai, one of Ukraine’s top photographers, who recently […]
9th November 2011
Once again, as November begins and temperatures dip towards freezing in Kyiv, Ukrainian friends and contacts are asking why I am wearing a small, red flower on my jacket lapel. I can do no better than refer to the blog I published this time last year, “Why I wear a poppy“. As in previous years […]
4th November 2011
Did you know that one of the largest moveable structures ever assembled is being created in Ukraine over the next four years? That it will cost around Euro 1.54 billion? And that the aim is to reduce the risk of radiation escaping from Chornobyl’s damaged Reactor Number 4? The “New Safe Confinement Project” at Chornobyl […]