Wais Ahmad Barmak (born 1972) is an Afghan politician who served as the

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

. Prior to that, he served as Minister for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs of Afghanistan and as Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.

Early years and education

Barmak was born in 1972 in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, Afghanistan. He had graduated from the Department of Architecture at

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...

. He then went on to receive an MSc degree from the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

(SOAS) at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

(2004).

Career

In the 1990s, Barmak started working as a field assistant of the

ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signator ...

and as a program officer at the Agency Co-ordinating Body for Afghan Relief, and later as a program officer of the

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ('UNAMA'') is a UN Special Political Mission tasked with assisting the people of Afghanistan. UNAMA was established on 28 March 2002 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1401. Revi ...

(UNAMA). Barmak was Senior Advisor to the Department of Disaster Management and Preparedness and became a high-level civil servant in the Afghan

Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development prs, وزارت بازسازی و انکشاف دهات) , native_name_a = , native_name_r = , type = , seal = , seal_width = 155 , seal_caption = , logo ...

(MRRD) in 2004. He was subsequently Senior Advisor on Capacity Development and Programmes, Senior Advisor/Chief Coordinator of the National Rural Access Programme and Executive Director of the National Solidarity Program. From 2008 onward he was Deputy Minister of Programmes at the MRRD. Barmak is said to be an ally of former vice-president

Mohammad Fahim Mohammad Qasim Fahim ( prs, محمد فهیم, popularly known as "Marshal Fahim"; 1957 – 9 March 2014) was a military commander and politician in Afghanistan who served as Vice President from June 2002 until December 2004 and from November ...

. He was nominated for the position of Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in January 2010, but his nomination was rejected by the Lower House of Parliament and instead Jarullah Mansouri obtained the position. Two years later, then-President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

nominated Barmak for the same position and this time his nomination was approved. Under his leadership, the National Solidarity Program of the ministry supported 70,000 rural infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, retaining walls, protection walls, irrigation schemes, the schools, clinics. In 2014, after the

Karzai administration Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Republi ...

was replaced by the

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in L ...

administration, Barmak began serving President Ghani's Special Representative on Humanitarian Affairs. He became Ghani's advisor in the Northern Zone, tasked to evaluate performance of officials and government agencies and fight corruption. In October 2015 Barmak became a minister again, when he was appointed to lead the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, which was being upgraded to ministry. On 13 August 2017, Barmak was appointed as Afghanistan's

References

External links

Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior Affairs

Wais Barmak Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barmak, Wais Government ministers of Afghanistan Interior ministers of Afghanistan 1972 births Living people Kabul University alumni Alumni of SOAS University of London