I'm the Head of Office for the Department for International Development (DFID) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I have been based in the capital city, Kinshasa, for just over a year. This is a challenging and exciting job as we think through how to support poverty reduction in this huge and complex country.
It had rained solidly all night, and was still raining at 6:30 as we assembled at the Pakistani Company Operating Base outside Walungu to assess whether the road trip was possible. The Burhale to Shabunda road in South Kivu is …
Cash transfers are an increasingly important component of DFID’s poverty-reduction tool kit. There is strong evidence that they are a highly effective means to support extremely vulnerable and poor people. Cash transfers can help people to recover from shocks caused …
Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must be one of the most difficult environments to deliver clean water. The city is built on the lava flows from nearby active volcanoes (the last major eruption was …
A highly addictive substance with strong stimulant properties is being grown in the conflict torn hills of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Between 50 and 80% of the harvest is then smuggled by boat and by road across the …
Nsimba is a 3 year old girl living in Masi Manimba, in the Bandundu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). With no real livelihood or consistent source of income, her parents struggle to feed her and her 5 …
Today is World Toilet Day. Worldwide, over 2.5 billion people do not have access to clean, functioning toilets – and over 1 billion people defecate in the open. More people have access to a cell phone than use a toilet. …
A few weeks ago I saw an article in Foreign Policy about Primus, the ubiquitous beer of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The authors, Jason Miklian and Peer Shouten, explore some of the social, cultural, and conflict dynamics of …
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 …
Last week I went to see some road construction in a UK and World Bank joint-funded programme called ProRoutes. We headed out of Kisangani in DRC’s Oriental Province, driving some 270 km north of the Congo River through the tropical …
It's a bit unnerving to be decanted from a helicopter into the middle of a field, surrounded by towering hills in the far reaches of North Kivu on the edge of an area active with Mayi-Mayi fighters. But there we …
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