help the countries in developing self-sustaining systems of public empowerment and welfare.

In focus are both the Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries around the world where the British have connections and which are afflicted with extreme poverty. “We also continue our work with commitment in conflict zones like Syria, Yemen and Libya with the collaboration of different organizations including the United Nations, NGOs and private as well as government sectors”.

Answering a question as to which countries of the world were worst hit in economic terms, Matthew replied that the countries of the sub-Sahara region, like, for instance, Somalia and Tanzania were badly affected where local populations were facing abject poverty.

Giving further details, the global head of DFID said that, although at present, his organization which is also known among manycircles as ‘UK aid from the British people’ is working in full swing in two provinces of Pakistan namely Punjab and KPK as well as in the federal area, they were also contemplating expanding their humanitarian and capacity-building services to other provinces inside Pakistan in the near future.

When asked to draw a comparison between the performance of Punjab and KPK governments in the perspective of ‘cooperation with and response to DFID contributions’, Matthew Rycroft said he could only say that some kind of healthy competition between the provinces was a good thing.

The underlying principle, according to him, was strengthening and modernizing the institutions and systems in a self-sustaining way so that the governments and public segments of the contributions-recipient countries were able to move forward in their own