President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday appointed senior career diplomat Ershad Ahmadi as deputy minister of foreign affairs for political affairs, replacing Jawed Ludin.
Prior to the latest appointment, Ahmadi served as director-general of 5th Political Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dealing with the Continents of Americas and Australia, the Office of Administrative Affairs said.
A former deputy ambassador and charge d’affaires at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Ottawa, Ahmadi was advisor to President Karzai and deputy chief of the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption.
Apart from coordinating the government’s anti-graft agenda, the diplomat headed the Office of Strategy and Planning -- an entity supporting the president in his day-to-day activities.
Before joining the president’s office, he was program advisor to the Ministry of Rural Development, where he worked on community and rural development programmes.
Additionally, he has been external relations officer with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), for the out-of-country registration and voting programme during elections in Afghanistan and Iraq.
His assignment included working with Afghan and Iraqi political parties, media and election observers. He has also worked for UNDP, WHO and ActionAid.
Born in Kabul, he stayed in Afghanistan during the civil strife and obtained a master’s degree in governance and development from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom.
by: Danish Karokhel
source:http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2013/05/14/ahmadi-appointed-deputy-foreign-minister
