We work around Asia to increase access to basic services, help after humanitarian emergencies and empower girls and women, ultimately helping people lift themselves out of poverty. In these blogs country teams discuss their work and progress towards these and other goals.
My time in Afghanistan has, all too soon, come to an end. I'm moving on for pastures new, not because I'm ready to leave the country I've come to love so much, but just because the time has come. I'll …
I have been in Dhaka six months now – working for DFID Bangladesh as an economist - and one of the first things I noticed was the traffic. Previously I lived in Sierra Leone for two years, but compared to …
The major event in Basra in the last month has been the provincial elections. These were held on the 31st January; the second provincial elections held since Saddam was deposed in 2003 – with the last being in 2005. The …
I’ve been downtown twice in the last couple of weeks now, so I thought it might be interesting to set down some impressions of the city (as well as some photographs). Now that security has improved, we’re out and about …
This week I went down town with our Youth Employment Adviser, Sue Lowman, and the DFID Regional Director covering Iraq, Sue Wardell, to the Basra Employment Centre, the Iraqi equivalent of a UK jobcentre. The purpose of the trip was …
Christmas Day on camp will mean roast turkey and all the trimmings, served by the civilians, officers and senior non-commissioned officers. There'll be a carol service in the chapel, touch rugby, Christmas films and of course the Queen's speech. I …
As people around the world concentrate on HIV/AIDS - today is World AIDS Day - it's hard to know where to focus here in Afghanistan. We just don't know much at all about the scale of the problem. Data for …
Of all the routine events of life here in Helmand, there’s one thing I’ll never get used to: the all too frequent repatriation services, or ‘ramp ceremonies’, for fallen soldiers. 125 British soldiers have now died in Afghanistan. While the …
I live on a military base in a very dusty part of the world, where temperatures top 50 degrees in the summer. We've not seen much rain since I first came here in early June. A number of UK troops live on …
I was in the air somewhere above Helmand the other day, flying in a Sea King helicopter, trying to do my commute-time reading, but a long way from the squeeze of the Tube. A moment later, I was interrupted from …
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