Archive for September 2010
Nearly two weeks ago now, I visited four polling centres around Kabul as part of the joint diplomatic observation of Afghanistan’s 2010 parliamentary elections on 18 September. The UK media covered the Afghan parliamentary elections closely so I’m sure you will have seen some of the reports, but here are my impressions of the day... [...]
Two events in the last few weeks have focused my attention on the challenges that climate change poses in urban areas, and how DFID can contribute to finding solutions. First I paid a visit to Beddington Zero (fossil) Energy Development, or BedZED, the UK’s first large-scale sustainable community in south London. Following that I participated [...]
In the UK we hear about Afghanistan almost every day. But most people have never met anyone who has actually been there, and from what you see in the media you’d be surprised that anyone would actually want to work in Afghanistan through choice. The civilians working here have all volunteered for the job. There [...]
I've noticed the term "growth" is often misunderstood when it comes to development. I’ve even had people thinking I work on agricultural issues – helping things to grow! What I really do is make sure DFID is effective at supporting poor countries to have stronger economies. More specifically, I lead the team responsible for economic [...]
One early July day, I made my first flight to Africa, was delivered with my blue rucksack to a guest house on Ngong Road in Nairobi, and enjoyed my first encounter with a noisy Mynah bird, singing loudly outside my window. A long haul drive across the country in matatu minibuses took me to Mt Elgon [...]
Before I write about my new work at the EU delegation office in Zimbabwe, I must add a sad postscript to my time in Kano, northern Nigeria. Just a week after departing in late July, I was shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of Richard Dalgarno, education programme team leader for the Education [...]
I was at a conference right in the centre of Maputo yesterday, next to the beautiful Maputo Cathedral. I took a snap of the cathedral as I left the meeting, but a better picture can be found here. I am also attaching a link to a website which has pictures of Maputo by Luis Boleo from [...]
At the moment our team is scoping-out ideas to help boost private sector businesses and new export opportunities for the Caribbean region in low carbon technologies. Working in this strategic development area is exciting and I am discovering so much along the way, talking to various people in the field of energy and reading reports. [...]
After months without returning to my old neighbourhood, this August bank holiday Monday found me two doors away from the house I first lived in when I moved to Maputo, for another meeting at the Malaria Consortium office. However this time I had been invited to meet David Ralph, one of the finalists in the Guardian International Development [...]
