Democracy in Africa – is it worth the effort? And why should foreigners help a country like Kenya to run its elections? It's Monday 4 March, and millions of Kenyans are already standing in long queues – many in intense …
What comes to mind when you think of Kenya? Lions and elephants on the plains of the Maasai Mara, the world's best marathon runners, innovation in mobile phone technology? Or tribal hatred, political crisis, and running battles in desperate slums? …
#Egypt was the most popular Twitter hashtag in 2011, edging out other less revolutionary contenders like #JustinBeiber. ‘The power of we’ is the theme of today’s Blog Action Day, and although ‘beliebers’ might not necessarily agree, there could hardly be …
Ex-President Jerry Rawlings stands in front of a baying crowd at an election rally, and bellows out to them “Protect your ballot boxes the way you would protect and defend your mother!” It’s a powerful moment from the fly-on-the-wall documentary An …
While the UK basked in the glory of Team GB's medal haul at the London 2012 Olympics, I spent a week driving up from Zimbabwe to Dar es Salaam, to start my new assignment as DFID’s Education Adviser in Tanzania. …
Last week I left Afghanistan for good. When I said goodbye to our local staff member in Helmand he asked "will we see you again in Helmand Province?" "Probably not," I replied. After making Afghanistan my home for the last …
We’ve had a bit of a blogging hiatus given the pre-election period in the UK, but it’s nice to be back online! Things with Nepal’s peace process have gone up and down since I last blogged, but unfortunately I don’t …
The streets of Maputo were very quiet last Thursday, but there was a notable presence of police on strategic street corners, and the distant sound of celebrations could be heard. A national holiday had been declared to celebrate the inauguration …
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 …
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