This week at the Foreign Office
A look at the work of the Foreign Office and its embassies overseas this week.
This week Foreign Secretary William Hague toured the Middle East and North Africa visiting five countries in three days.
Coverage of the visit:
- announces £5 million funding for Arab Parnership Initiative
- visits Bahrain
- highlights UAE’s key role in the Arab world
- visits Yemen and urges that reform must not be put off
- answers questions from the public via Twitter
Egypt continued to dominate the headlines this week as protestors in Egypt called for President Mubarak to stand down. Earlier today the Foreign Secretary called for restraint in Egypt. The Foreign Office’s primary concern throughout the political crisis has been the safety of British nationals. The Foreign Office produced a video explaining the consular response to Egypt.
On Wednesday the Government launched the UK’s strategy for trade and investment. Since then many of the Foreign Office bloggers have discussed trade using their blogs and Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne delivered a speech to East Anglian businesses telling them to act now to seize opportunities in Asia.
The Foreign Secretary and Minister for Europe David Lidington launched EU careers month, a campaign to encourage the UK’s top calibre graduates to apply for jobs in the EU Civil Service.
Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham discussed the Turks and Caicos Islands with leader of the TCI opposition party.
Photographs from the former Colonial Office Library Collection were made available online for the first time, showing 100 years of British involvement in Africa.
On 11 February Lord Howell discussed recent developments in the Middle East & North Africa in a House of Lords debate. The transcript of the debate will be available shortly on the parliament website
British Deputy High Commission in Nigeria teamed up with the British Council in Nigeria and the National Theatre, London to organise a screening of the international hit musical Fela!