Mohammad Shafiq Hamdam

Hamdam worked as an As a Deputy Senior Adviser to The President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in international affairs. The Senior Advisory Office of The President on UN Affairs (SAOP UN-Affairs) has established in early 2017 at the office of The President as policy and advisory body. The SAOP UN-Affairs worked on One UN for Afghanistan, a strategic framework that has replaced The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for Afghanistan. The advisory also successfully drafted a mutual accountability framework between the government of Afghanistan and the United Nations. The One UN or Delivering As One (DAO) was one of the most challenging task for the UN family and the Afghan government, but the SAOP was able to do it successfully. Under the new framework the UN has to align its programs and projects based on the national strategies and priorities of Afghanistan.

Hamdam was a critic of Karzai government for not taking firm steps to fight corruptions. In his interview with the CBS TV he said that corruption starts from the street and goes to the palace and he called Karzai's government the most corrupt government ever. He has repeatedly called and pressured the Afghan government for fighting corruption and he looks at corruption as a major problem for the country. For his contribution to transparency, justice, peace and security of Afghanistan, he was nominated for 2013 Nobel Peace Prize by Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-Shafafiyat (NATO Transparency Task Forces).

Hamdam is closely following Afghanistan and regional countries developments. Following Afghanistan's affairs as an observer, He has attended International Conference on Afghanistan, The Hague 2009 in Netherlands, NATO 60 Summit in Strasburg and Kehl, France in 2009, Kabul International conference in 2010, NATO Summit in Lisbon Portugal in 2010, 2nd International Bonn Conference about Afghanistan, the NATO Chicago Summit in 2011 and tens of other national and international conferences on Afghanistan. As an observer he observed Afghanistan presidential elections in 2004 and 2009, Afghan parliamentary and provincial elections in 2005 and Traditional Loya Jirga on the Afghanistan and the U.S. Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Hamdam closely worked with and advised senior NATO, U.S. and international policymakers on political and development affairs of Afghanistan, South and Center Asia. He serves as the Chairman of Afghan Anti-Corruption Network (AACN), the largest and leading network of civil society organizations fighting against corruption. He worked as subject matter expert for the University of Maryland, senior research fellow at Civil Vision International. From 2008 to 2014 he worked as senior media, political and public diplomacy advisor to the NATO senior civilian representative in Afghanistan He is a Member of Board of Directors, Modern Organization for Development of Education (MODE), executive board chairman of Anti-Corruption Watch Organization. He is also the founder of Youth For Peace, Afghan Youth Against Corruption, Anti-Corruption Watch Organization, Kabul Tribune, an online newspaper and co-founder of the Afghan Women Coalition Against Corruption. Hamdam is a member of Afghan Young Leaders Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Program Associate of Hiroshima Peace Builders Center, a member of the United Nation Coalition Against Corruption (UNCAC), a member of Voice Against Corruption, a member of the Afghan Civil Society for Advocacy. In 2009 presidential and provincial elections of Afghanistan he worked for Moby Media, Tolo TV as a presenter of political round-table during 2009 presidential elections. From 2007 to 2008 he worked with the US Department of Defence as Media Coordinator and Spokesman for the US Forces in Eastern Afghanistan, prior to this he worked for four years as Culture Adviser and Linguist for the US forces in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom). In the years 2003 and 2004 Hamdam worked as a Project Manager for the Demobilization Disarmament and Reintegration project of the United Nations in Kabul. Between 2001 and 2003 he was freelancer interpreter and prior to that from 1998 to 2001 he worked as a Project Assistant with the Health Net International TPO and World Health Organization in Jalalabad city in eastern Afghanistan. The Asia Society recognized him as a 21 Young Asia Leaders.

He is optimistic about Afghanistan. After the end of one decade ISAF mission in Afghanistan, he wrote on the Khaama Press that Afghanistan of 2001 is not comparable with Afghanistan of 2015. With 352,000 strong Afghan National Security Forces, backed by the US and NATO, an increasingly vibrant civil society sector, and a large youth population, Afghans are hopeful that their country will never return to the dark era. For this to remain effective, Afghanistan and its partners must continue to broaden those achievements over the next decade, ushering in a new era of transformation.

Hamdam was born in January 1981 in the Alishing village, which is located in Laghman Province of Afghanistan. In 1986 he enrolled in Lam-e-Shahid High School in Kabul. In 1999 he graduated from Shahid Muhammad Arif High School in Jalalabad, and in the same year he enrolled in Political Science Faculty of Nangarhar University, but was forced by the Taliban to leave the University. In 2002 he earned his undergraduate in Health Sciences from Nangarhar Institute of Health Sciences. In 2003 he was rewarded Advance Diploma in Administration and Economics from The Swiss College of Administration and Economy. In 2010 he graduated from George C Marshall Center, European Center for Security Studies in Germany, where he studied advance security and international relations. He is a graduate of Executive Programme John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also earned a Master of National Security from The Institute of World Politics in Washington DC. He is fluent in several languages, including Dari, Pashto and English.