AS THE British Armed Forces leave Afghanistan, one former Headington man is staying behind to help rebuild the shattered country.

Usman Nizami works for the Government’s Department For International Development and is based in the war-torn country’s capital, Kabul.

Born in the John Radcliffe Hospital, the 25-year-old works in the British Embassy as one of the department’s governance policy and programme managers.

This includes work on a variety of programmes funded by UK aid, such as those tackling corruption, improving women’s and girls’ rights and strengthening the security and justice sectors.

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Mr Nizami said: “I wanted to work on foreign policy and this role gives me the opportunity to benefit and improve the lives of those less fortunate.

“Working in different environments and in difficult parts across the world for different reasons will be quite rewarding.

“This is a fantastic organisation to work for.

“I hope that my time here will contribute to a better Afghanistan.”

He added: “We are hopeful this is a time for change with the new government in power who want to develop sustainably.

“We can be proud of what we have achieved so far, and who we have helped.

“We have a long way to go but we will continue with our work and we hope the country will continue to progress.

“It’s a challenging environment and things do not change over night, but things have changed since 2001. One thing in particular is that now more than 7.6 million children are attending school.”

The former Dragon School pupil said he finds his work very rewarding and that he took on the role because he wanted to change things.

And despite being on the other side of the world, he said that Oxford will always be his home.

He added: “I miss Oxford. It’s a wonderful place to grow up and a unique city.

“When I’m in the UK I’m based in London, but at the weekend Oxford is just a lovely place to get away to.”

Mr Nizami said while in Afghanistan he has managed to play in a friendly rugby match against local players. The British Embassy donated kits to the team and Mr Nizami said it was an experience he would “never forget”.

He added: “We played rugby on a pitch which was also a helicopter landing site and had to stop playing for Black Hawks to land. It was amazing.”