3rd May 2019 Gaborone, Botswana
On 2 May, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, addressed the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day celebrations, hosted by the African Union in Addis Ababa. He noted that, in a world where, in 2018 alone, 99 journalists were killed, some of the brightest spots of hope on press freedom were in Africa. The latest World […]
20th April 2018 Gaborone, Botswana
In this part of the world, elephants can wander through three different Commonwealth countries before lunch. Their routes are ancient, learned from generations of ancestors, and even a physical border like a river is no challenge to them.
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29th March 2018 Gaborone, Botswana
Ahead of a global conference on the illegal wildlife trade in London in October, Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin attended the the Giants Club Summit in Kasane in northern Botswana to show the UK’s commitment to protecting Africa’s elephants. Here are 5 things you need to know about the summit, and the elephants that the organisers […]
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14th March 2018 Gaborone, Botswana
#PressforProgress A message from Her Excellency The British High Commissioner to Botswana, Katy Ransome on International Women’s Day 2018 We must strive to ensure that women have access to equal opportunities in the workplace, politics and most importantly girls access to education. This International Women’s Day is an opportunity to take action to press forward […]
13th March 2017 Gaborone, Botswana
At primary school, I remember we used to have a large poster of the flags of the Commonwealth on the wall of the classroom. I used to daydream about what kids my age would be doing in those countries – what was their school day like? Were their teachers nice? Did they also hate sitting […]
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8th March 2017 Gaborone, Botswana
Did you know that up until 1972, if you were a woman in the British Diplomatic Service, you had to resign if you got married? Nobody is really sure how this policy came about, but thankfully wiser minds have long since prevailed. Now both male and female diplomats equally find ways to combine family and […]
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20th January 2017 Gaborone, Botswana
January is traditionally a time for looking ahead and setting out a vision for the year. For some of us, our goals may be simple – more time with family, lose weight, travel or study. For politicians however, sometimes the vision encompasses a major or historic change in international relations. UK Prime Minister Theresa May […]
19th February 2016 Gaborone, Botswana
My assignment has ended and I have now left Botswana after three years that have flown by which is always the sign of an enjoyable posting. So this is my final and reflective blog, written from a freezing London. Never again will I complain about the heat. For my over-arching impression, I will stick with […]
28th October 2015 Gaborone, Botswana
A year ago, with election fever gripping the country, and conscious of Botswana’s sound democratic principles and wanting to experience and test them, I left my house in Gaborone at 05:00 so I could be at the opening of a polling station in Lobatse. What immediately struck me was the long queue of citizens, women […]
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3rd June 2015 Gaborone, Botswana
I’ve always thought it better to write about an event, especially a successful one, a few weeks after it rather than risk getting caught up in the euphoria of the moment. So it is with considered reflection that I write about the success that was the Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) which […]
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