Date: 14th June 2004
From: Ian Joseph, Managing Director - HOPE worldwide
On Saturday 12th June 2004 Dr Mark Timlin, Country Director of HOPE worldwide - Afghanistan, was honoured with an MBE for services to health care and education in Afghanistan.
Mark gained his medical degree from Southampton Medical School. After working in the National Health Service in the UK he developed a dream to help the poor in Afghanistan. Mark is a man of profound sincerity who has a passionate sensitivity to the needs of those around him. This compassion drove Mark & his wife Vicki in 2000 to seek ways of serving the beleaguered people of Afghanistan. The Taliban welcomed Mark and his wife and they moved to Afghanistan in early 2001 at a time when few were entering the country. He negotiated with the Taliban registration of a humanitarian organization and with limited funds, started serving as a doctor at a mother & child health clinic in Kabul. Since then he has built a humanitarian operation involving many clinics, hospitals, and schools across Afghanistan and has worked in a multiplicity of fields such as helping WFP distribute food to hospitals and working to build the capacity of Afghans through vocational training centres. His work has been internationally acclaimed on four continents.
He has served as the Chairperson of the Regional Health Coordination Committee in Kabul with responsibility for promoting coordination between NGOs and the Ministry of Health in the central region of Afghanistan, by information sharing, advocacy, and problem resolution. Mark has also been the Chairperson of the National Health Sector Coordination Group with responsibility for the coordination of health NGOs and the Ministry of Health on a national level in Afghanistan. He is currently a member of the National Technical Coordination Committee at the Ministry of Health.
As Country Director of HOPE worldwide he has been responsible for establishing and managing health and education programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Taliban regime and during the tenure of the new interim administration. He has successfully negotiated contracts with various governments around the world, built trust in local communities and influenced change at both governmental and community levels. Under his leadership the first hospital was built in Afghanistan since September 11th 2001 and he has been responsible for the influx of millions of dollars of medical supplies into the country.
Dr Timlin and his wife Vicki have recently had their first child Aisha and continue to serve the people of Afghanistan.
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