Minister hails city charity Mercy Corps

CAPITAL-based charity Mercy Corps has been praised by the UK’s Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell for contributing to long-term security in Afghanistan.

Mr Mitchell visited a Mercy Corps vocational training centre in Lashkar Gah as part of a two-day visit to Helmand and Kabul.

The centre was set up last summer to provide training in courses such as IT, English, tractor repair, tailoring and construction. So far, more than 7000 people have been trained in the centre – 1200 of them women.

Mercy Corps executive director Mervyn Lee, who this week gave evidence on the future of Afghanistan to the House of Commons International Development Committee, said: “Each time that new courses open we’re flooded with applicants.”