Sarah Cooper
Biography
Sarah Cooper is the Regional Development Director for FCDO in Central Asia.
In a career spanning over 25 years, Sarah has worked in more than 30 countries across Sub-Saharan and North Africa, the Middle East, South, Central, and East Asia, as well as Western and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. She has worked in a variety of leadership, strategy, advisory and consulting roles. Her sectoral experience includes: economic governance, private sector investment, infrastructure, climate change, health, education, and social protection.
Sarah has worked for the UK government since 2014 and led UK strategic and operational engagement on governance, climate change, humanitarian response, and social development in Islamabad, Pakistan (2018-2023), and governance and security in Nairobi, Kenya (2014-2018).
Sarah holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester.
Previous roles
| Dates | Role |
|---|---|
| 2018-2023 | Group Head Governance, Climate, Humanitarian and Social Development, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO/DFID) Islamabad, Pakistan |
| 2014-2018 | Group Head Governance and Security, UK Department for International Development (DFID) Nairobi, Kenya |
| 2012-2014 | Chief Governance Adviser, African Development Bank (AfDB) Tunis, Tunisia |
| 2010-2012 | Strategy Adviser, Office of the President, African Governance Initiative (AGI) Monrovia, Liberia |
| 2009-2010 | Senior Governance Adviser, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kigali, Rwanda |
| 2003-2012 | Senior Adviser, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and London, United Kingdom |
| 2002-2003 | Adviser - Public sector Governance/Anti-corruption, Transparency International Berlin, Germany |
| 2000-2002 | Adviser/Consultant, HTS/PE Consulting Hemel Hempstead, UK |
| 1999-2000 | Manager, Children’s Society, Manchester, United Kingdom |
Regional Development Director in Central Asia
The Regional Development Director is a senior civil servant who oversees the UK’s ODA budget in Central Asia. They are responsible for undertaking policy dialogue and leading teams to deliver on UK development objectives.