Zafar Hashemi ( fa, ظفر هاشمی; born February 17, 1985) is Afghan-American who serves as special advisor on Afghanistan for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Previously, he worked as the political counselor at the embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. He was also the deputy (and for nine months acting)

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

of the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani until January 2017.

Life & Career

An ethnic

Tajik Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Tajikistan * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik (surname) * Tajik cu ...

, Hashemi fled Afghanistan as a child to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

during the Taliban regime. He later resided in the U.S. to study, achieving a bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and a master's degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. Before immigrating to the United States in 2007, Hashemi managed communication and public affairs of Afghanistan Stabilization Program (ASP) under the Interior Ministry, and prior to that he was a journalist and a radio presenter for Nawa 103.1 FM in 2007, and later at AWAZ. He later became a television presenter and journalist at

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

(VOA) in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

References

Living people Afghan politicians 1985 births Voice of America people University System of Maryland alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni {{Afghanistan-bio-stub