DAI is proud to be associated with the Linda Norgrove Foundation and to play a small role in charting the foundation’s initial path by sharing some of our insight into the development environment in Afghanistan. Linda Norgrove joined DAI in January 2010 to help manage a large program called IDEA-NEW, which stands for Incentives Driving Economic Alternatives for the North, East, and West. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the programme aims to create jobs, boost local economies, and strengthen local Afghan leadership in unstable and vulnerable areas.

IDEA-NEW has been called a model of success, an achievement due in no small measure to Linda’s quiet but charismatic leadership and her unquenchable affection for Afghanistan and its people.

Linda was committed to making a tangible difference in people’s lives, especially in the lives of Afghanistan’s women and girls, and she would accept nothing less of herself and the development organisations she worked for.

“Is this a real job?” she demanded of the person recruiting her for IDEA-NEW. “Can I do good things?” We assured her she could, and she did. We hope the Linda Norgrove Foundation can, in its own way, continue that legacy of concrete achievement in Afghanistan.

At the time of writing, DAI — a mission-driven, employee-owned international development organisation with offices and projects in 60 countries around the world — manages seven projects in Afghanistan, and fields almost 2,000 dedicated staff, the great majority of them Afghan nationals.

Several of these projects are helping farmers and entrepreneurs produce better, more marketable crops, products, and services, so they can provide livelihoods for their families and communities. Others are opening the door for financial services to reach rural and agricultural Afghanistan. Still others are working with local, legitimate Afghan leaders to govern more responsively, better serve their constituents, and bring stability to their communities.

All are committed, as Linda was, to doing a “real job” in one of the most challenging environments imaginable.

DAI’s projects in Afghanistan are part of a global portfolio of approximately 100 projects that cover the gamut of development objectives, from supporting environmentally responsible economic growth and reducing poverty to tackling the pressing issues of global health, climate change, and effective governance.