Hamdullah Mohib
Dr. Hamdullah Mohib (born 1983) is an Afghan diplomat. He currently serves as the Afghan Ambassador to the United States.
Early life
Dr. Hamdullah Mohib was born in a small village north of Jalalabad in 1983. He was the youngest of eleven children. Mohib's father worked in Kabul as a court clerk.[1]
Dr. Mohib's family fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, becoming Afghan refugees. The family returned home after the end of the Soviet invasion, but fled once more to Pakistan after a renewed civil war broke out.[1]
Education and Career
Dr. Mohib has a PhD and Bachelors degree with honors from Brunel University in the United Kingdom.[2] The university honored him with an award for social and cultural contributions to campus, and a research scholarship to pursue a Doctorate of Philosophy.[2] Before joining the government, Dr. Mohib worked for the American University of Afghanistan and Intel Corporation.
After seven years in the UK, Dr. Mohib returned to Afghanistan,[1] as director of information technology at the American University of Afghanistan.[3] During the 2009 Afghan presidential election, Dr. Mohib worked on the campaign of Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, who came in fourth place, losing to incumbent President Hamid Karzai.[1]
Dr. Mohib then returned to the UK to study for his Ph.D., completing it in 2014. In the same year, Dr. Mohib again became an aide to Ghani, who won the 2014 Afghan presidential election. Before being appointed Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Mohib served as Deputy Chief of Staff to H.E. The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The role included oversight of the spokesperson’s office, the office of correspondence and diplomatic communications, protocol office, petitions office, and the Presidential secretariat.[2]
During his tenure at the Presidential Palace, his role involved liaison with governmental counterparts and drafting of bilateral and multilateral agreements. Dr. Mohib also engaged in the substantive preparation and implementation of official presidential visits to Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Germany, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States as part of the administration’s strategy for geopolitical and economic integration. Dr. Mohib led the presidential negotiating team for several inter-government cooperation agreements and the formulation of Afghanistan’s national development “Realizing Self-Reliance” reform strategy.[2]
Dr. Mohib was appointed Afghan Ambassador to the United States. Dr. Mohib was just 32 years old and had no prior diplomatic experience.[1] Mohib formally presented his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama in September 2015.[1]
As Ambassador, Dr. Mohib has emphasized the need to strengthen the U.S.-Afghan partnership on shared areas of interest, including economic development, anti-corruption efforts, and counterterrorism.[4] Dr. Mohib has also been an active leader in civil society among the global Afghan community. He founded the largest Afghan diaspora youth association in Europe, the Afghan Students Association of the UK.[2] He also founded and served as Chairman of the Board for the Afghan Professionals Network (APN). As part of APN, he started a think-tank “Discourse Afghanistan”, and initiated community service programming to support special needs orphans in Kabul, and to recognize achievements of Afghan women.[2]
Personal life
Dr. Mohib married Lael Adams, an American expert on Afghanistan, in 2011.[1]
According to TOLOnews, Mohib is fluent in English, Pashto, and Dari and proficient in Urdu.[5]
Works by Mohib
- Hamdullah Mohib, How Afghanistan Can Succeed, CNN (September 30, 2015).
- —, A Grassroots Democracy for Afghanistan, Foreign Policy (June 27, 2011).
- —, Letter to the Editor: An Ashraf Ghani Government in Afghanistan Would Give Out Jobs Only Based on Merit, Washington Post (September 22, 2016).
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Roxanne Roberts, What does Afghanistan need? Some major rebranding, says its 32-year-old ambassador, Washington Post (April 21, 2016).
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Biography ::: Embassy of Afghanistan". www.afghanembassy.us. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
- ↑ Lael Mohib & Hamdullah Mohib, Can Civil Society Save Afghanistan?, Foreign Policy (August 16, 2012).
- ↑ Farishta Jalalzai, Afghanistan Envoy In Washington Optimistic Over Continued Support, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (June 27, 2016).
- ↑ Faridullah Hussainkhail, Hamdullah Mohib the New Afghan Envoy to US, TOLOnews (September 18, 2015).
External links
- Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib Discusses Anti-Taliban Efforts in Afghanistan — video of panel discussion at the Hudson Institute, made available by C-SPAN
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eklil Ahmad Hakimi |
Afghan ambassador to the United States 2015-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |