Abubakari Sulemana Hafiz has a lot to be proud of. He is one of 11 undergraduates who are part of Ghana's first cohort of veterinary science students at the University of Ghana. This achievement is even more impressive as until he was 14 years old, he had not been to school. Abubakari comes from Kumbungu district in Ghana's [...]

A recent experience brought to life for me some of the issues facing developing countries trying to improve tax collection. I have lots of family in Kenya, and a few days ago, my dad received the news that a cargo of furniture and other household goods that he'd shipped over was about to arrive at [...]

A guest blog by Susanna Moorehead, DFID West and Southern Africa Director, about her recent visit to a center for girls living in the street in Kinshasa. During my recent visit to DRC, I witnessed life in the huge, vibrant but troubled capital city, Kinshasa. In the tree-lined streets of Gombe, the diplomatic quarter on the banks of the Congo River, [...]

A few months ago, DFID's Secretary of State Justine Greening announced the beginning of a new, non-aid based relationship with India focused on trade and the private sector. Around the same time, David Cameron, announced a focus for the UK's G8 presidency on changing tax, trade and transparency policies inside the UK and other G8 countries to [...]

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I recently travelled to Bamyan and Uruzgan to see whether Strengthening Provincial Administration and Delivery (SPAD) – a UK/Denmark funded programme - can make a difference there. Bamyan is a province in the centre-west of the country and famous for the monumental Buddha statues that the Taliban [...]

Tanzanian President Dr. Jakaya Kikwete looked bemused as we greeted him with a classroom-like chorus; “Welcome to the education lab, Mr President!” The education 'laboratory' was one of six that government leaders visited in a conference facility on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam.  Down the corridor, other labs were thrashing out topics including water, agriculture, energy, [...]

Around International Women’s Day recently, the PRT here had a number of female-focussed visits, including Baroness Warsi and the NATO Secretary General’s wife. Earlier in the same week, Justine Greening, the DFID Secretary of State gave a speech on the importance of tackling violence against women and girls in Afghanistan. Sat at my desk in the Helmand PRT [...]

My name is Thomas Baylem and I work on the Education and Partnerships Team as part of the DFID graduate scheme. On 14th April, I'll be running the Brighton Marathon to raise as much money as I can to support Riders for Health's vital work in sub-Saharan Africa. Last weekend, being the good grandson that [...]

Defending any form of gender-based violence (GBV) on the basis of tradition, culture or religion is no longer an option. Certainly, this is one of the strongest messages to emerge from this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York with Michelle Bachelet making it absolutely crystal clear that culture and religion [...]

In 2013 we are asking everyone to Go Further For Fairtrade. This is the message during Fairtrade Fortnight (25 Feb – 10 March). In particular we will be focusing on food and the crucial role of smallholders, so that together, we really can make 2013 a game-changing year in food. Smallholders grow 70% of the [...]