The Minister of State for the United Nations (UN) and Commonwealth has led UK tributes at the funeral of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon joined His Excellency President Akufo-Addo of Ghana and world leaders at the funeral, held in Accra, where he conveyed condolences on behalf of the UK Government.

Lord Ahmad said:

The whole world has come together to mourn the loss of Kofi Annan. I am honoured to have represented the UK Government and the British people to pay our deep respects. He has left behind an incredible legacy, particularly his work on human rights and justice at the UN.

Whilst in Ghana, Lord Ahmad met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Shirley Botchway. They discussed a number of issues in UK-Ghana relations, including our countries’ visions for the Commonwealth and priority issues for this month’s UN General Assembly. Lord Ahmad also met with Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul on regional security and met with Ghana’s new Electoral Commissioner Jean Mensa to hear about Ghana’s preparations for future elections.

Lord Ahmad visited a UK-supported workshop with Ghanaian law enforcement agencies involved in tackling Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, seeing the practical cooperation between the UK and Ghana, that is helping to bring perpetrators to justice and protect vulnerable people. He also paid a visit to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana, reflecting on Ghana’s reputation for religious coexistence and his priorities as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Further information

Published 14 September 2018

Law fairs are a good opportunity for students to find out more about the work of government lawyers and the legal trainee scheme.

Please contact the universities listed below for further details about their law fairs.

University	Date
City, University of London	Wednesday 10 October
Bristol University	Thursday 11 October
University of Nottingham	Monday 15 October
University of Huddersfield	Tuesday 16 October
University of Sheffield	Wednesday 17 October
University of Cambridge	Thursday 18 October
University of Leeds	Thursday 18 October
Queen Mary, University of London	Tuesday 23 October
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Bar Pupillage Fair	Saturday 27 October
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London Law Fair	Wednesday 28 November

Published 14 September 2018

This year the Military and Emergency Pharmacy Section (MEPS) of FIP represented over 20 countries. Members are from a variety of defence organisations including those from Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and the Australian Medical Assistance team and non government organisations working in the field of disaster relief.

The UK military were represented with Lt Col Ellie Williams co-ordinating the core MEPS events, including a meet and greet event at the Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum, a formal dinner night at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Host Nation Study Day. The latter was held at Edinburgh Castle and supported by a multidisciplinary UK defence team presenting on vaccinations, the fielding of a new operational analgesia and distribution of blood products in field conditions.

MEPS president said

The visit to Edinburgh Castle was especially informative. The presentations demonstrated the similar challenges and opportunities that most of our organisations face. This ability to share and resolve problems together is what makes MEPS a successful collaboration of pharmacists.

Published 14 September 2018

The Minister visited the £83 million Defence Fulfilment Centre (DFC) after touring the armoury and current logistic facilities on-site at MOD Donnington. The 80,000 square-metre centre, due to be fully operational in 2019, is the size of ten football pitches and will streamline distribution and storage.

It is set to deliver over £300 million worth of savings by 2028 by streamlining the way storage and distribution is delivered and restructuring the way contract negotiations are conducted for commodities.

With two warehouses and a support building, it will be a central hub for storage and distribution of defence’s £30 billion inventory, including spare parts, food, clothing, and medical supplies.

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said:

We’ve invested over £80m in this enormous Shropshire centre as we are determined to ensure our personnel have everything they need, from batteries to boots, wherever they are in the world. This hub will have a transformative impact on our troops once it is fully up and running next year, putting a truly state-of-the-art supply network at the fingertips of our brave men and women on the frontline.

The DFC is part of the Logistics Commodities and Services Transformation programme. In April 2015 the MOD signed a 13-year contract, worth approximately £6.7 billion, with Team Leidos to run the storage, distribution and commodity procurement functions formerly performed by the Logistics Commodities and Services Operating Centre.

Alongside special environmental storage, the DFC’s automated storage and retrieval system will be capable of picking more than 1,000 items an hour.

Roger West, Director Logistics Delivery at DE&S, said:

It was a privilege to welcome the Minister to MOD Donnington and accompany him on a tour of the site and the Defence Fulfilment Centre.

The DFC will make a significant contribution to us providing better, more efficient, storage, distribution and commodity procurement services for our armed forces.

The delivery of this facility is testament to the excellent relationship between DE&S and our delivery partner Team Leidos.

DFC is managed by Kuehne + Nagel on behalf of Team Leidos, and will use new warehouse management systems to maximise value for money and manage the complex supply chains of the 21st Century seamlessly.

Matt Wiles, Vice President Leidos UK, said:

It was an honour to welcome the Minister on behalf of Team Leidos to the Defence Fulfilment Centre (DFC).

Following the DFC’s official opening in April 2017, we have successfully installed and integrated new information systems with the MOD’s and started an 18-month programme to re-locate much of the MOD’s stock holdings into the new facility.

When fully operational, the DFC operated by Kuehne & Nagel on behalf of Team Leidos, will help deliver a modern agile, responsive and modern supply chain to the MOD at significantly better value for money.