The Democratic Republic of Congo has the potential to be an economic powerhouse and a force for peace and stability at the heart of the continent. Progress towards sustainable development and poverty reduction will bring enormous benefits to millions of poor people in the Congo, its neighbours and the wider world. Helping turn this fascinating country in that direction is a core goal of DFID DRC's country programme.
Given current events in eastern DRC it seems strange to be writing about anything else. M23’s capture of Goma and ongoing push to the South has been widely covered in the international press (Reuters’ coverage has been particularly good). I …
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 …
It's fair to say that British Embassy staff in DRC are slaves to our smartphones. Whether we're pruning our inboxes on our way to meetings or surfing the web outside work, we feel as though we can't live without them. But anyone …
Last week I travelled to the province of Equateur in north-western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to launch a bednet distribution programme that will protect 8 million people from malaria. Equateur is the DRC's largest province - larger than Zimbabwe. …
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 …
Blogging by candlelight seems like a contradiction in terms. But in the city of Kananga – the most Bond villain-sounding of a strong field of Congolese place names – it’s candlelight or nothing. Kananga is a “ville noire” – which …
Checking in from beautiful eastern DRC where I’ve spent the last week learning from people – from UN agencies and local government to religious leaders and NGOs – about what’s going on and what needs to be done. The message …
Hello and thanks for reading. After a year of managing the UK’s humanitarian programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) based in the capital city Kinshasa, I’m off to the east of the country for a few months. I’m …
20 years ago I embarked on my first development job with Students Partnership Worldwide (SPW) - SPW has since changed its name to Restless Development and is leading the charge in youth-led development. As a naïve but an adventurous 18-year-old volunteer, …
Olympic fever is running high in the UK. London 2012 kicks off in late July, and the excitement is palpable, even from an Embassy a whole continent away from home. So it's no wonder that everything we do this year – …
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