Afghanistan. The Reconstruction Years

Insights, challenges, reflections on the first decade of the international community’s engagement in Afghanistan

The lecture will explore some of the practical, professional and personal insights, and reflections based on Ian’s role with UNDP in Afghanistan in the period 2003 – 2009. It will offer an insider perspective on the role of the international community in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, including issues of development management and aid effectiveness. The presentation will discuss the portfolio of development projects being pursued at the time, their financing, implementation and impact. It will also cover aspects of civil – military collaboration given the role of NATO / ISAF in Afghanistan during those years. Those aspiring to a career or research on the front lines of international development, in particular within a crisis context, would stand to benefit from attending this lecture. 

Guest speaker

Mr Ian Holland has worked in a variety of positions with the UN: Former Deputy Country Director UNDP in Afghanistan, Somalia, Lao PDR, & Libya, and in UNDP’s Crisis Bureau at HQ in New York. He has covered the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan, and evaluated the UNDP programme in Yemen. More recently, he led on UN analysis and strategy development in Indonesia, Thailand and Nepal, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Mauritius. Hea is currently working on Myanmar, Ukraine and Afghanistan with UNDP. Ian has been a Baha’i for over 30 years and seeks to place ‘spiritual’ or ‘human’ values at the heart of his work. He is a co-Founder and Director of One World Development Associates.