The FCO has people in 260 cities around the world. But few of them are as out of the way as Juba. This is the main town in the South of Sudan.

It’s part of my job as Head of the Foreign Office to get around and see our staff serving overseas, and to work with my counterparts in foreign capitals on foreign policy issues. I try to go to the tougher places, to show solidarity with our diplomats living and working in dangerous or difficult conditions. I’ve seen them in action in Afghanistan and Iraq. I’m travelling on this trip with my colleague, the Head of the Department for International Development, Minouche Shafik. There are DFID staff working alongside the FCO team in Juba and Khartoum. For both of us, it is our first visit to Sudan.

Juba

Juba isn’t an easy place to get to. We came in via Nairobi and then a local flight. The first impressions are striking. It’s hot and humid, not far from the Equator. There are only two paved roads in town, so our 4x4 is soon bouncing over the mud tracks which make up most of the road network in town and across the South of Sudan.

Many of the people in this region are desperately poor, and DFID run a large poverty reduction programme spending around £110 million a year. This is part of a large international effort: we are told that there are probably a thousand international aid workers in Juba.

Our man

Our man in Juba is David Lelliott. He is literally a one-man band (with his partner) working out of a portacabin. In the video to the right he is describing his job while we stand on the banks of the white Nile.

David’s predecessor lived for his entire posting in a tent: if you don’t believe me, here’s a clip to prove it! All this is a far cry from the stereotype of a typical diplomatic residence (David and his partner have sensibly decided to move into a basic house….)

Link to day two