I visited Ghor province in Afghanistan in June 2015 as part of my work for STAGES project, one of the UK-funded Girls’ Education Challenge programmes. I went there to see the work being carried out by one of the partners, which …
Strong public financial management (PFM) is essential to the success of any government. Without effective PFM systems, it is difficult for a government to achieve its goals and ensure that public services are delivered. PFM systems ensure that public money …
I recently joined DFID Afghanistan as the Private Sector Development Programme Manager, and my first "trip out" was to a programme I manage called Zardozi. It was already warm at 7:30am as I set off to meet 3 women - …
When the Girl Summit is held in the UK in July, one of the key messages will be the role of education in transforming the lives of girls. Education enables girls to participate more fully in their communities and their …
No, not the illegal narcotics for which Afghanistan is sadly infamous. The subject of this blog is private sector healthcare, and in particular the determination of one man, with the support of the Afghanistan Business Innovation Fund (ABIF) to provide …
I recently travelled to Mazar-e-Sharif with my colleagues Zoe and Chris to get a better understanding for how we can help the central government in Kabul improve its delivery of core services for local people – from schools to healthcare to …
I recently travelled to Herat, a beautiful city in the west of the country, with my economist colleague Kevin. Kevin has kindly agreed to write a guest blog about our trip: As someone returning to Afghanistan, I have found progress …
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 …
Local governance in Afghanistan is full of acronyms – PDP, DCC, DDA, PGO to name just a few – and SPAD is the latest addition. Admittedly, UK civil servants when they hear "SPAD" will not think of a programme that …
I have now left Afghanistan after nearly 21 months there. Just over a year ago, I spent four days in Bamyan province considering a new agriculture programme supported by UK and New Zealand aid. One year later I accompanied our Ambassador on his …
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