PRIO has the pleasure of inviting you to a seminar with leading actors in Afghanistan post 2001, all prominent in the post-2001 statebuilding process. The seminar aims at taking stock of current affairs; give an overview of some of the main reforms that are underway and discuss some of the current challenges and opportunities that exist to enhance legitimacy of these major government sectors among the Afghan public.
The seminar will be chaired by Kristian Berg Harpviken, PRIO, with Astri Suhrke, CMI, as a discussant.
This seminar is the fifth in a series of seminars on Afghanistan organized jointly by PRIO and CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute) and is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Please register for the seminar with seminar@prio.no.
The speakers are:
Dr. A. Ali Wardak is currently having the post as an Academic Exchange and Capacity Building Specialist within the Centre for Policy and Human Development at Kabul University. Before his current post Dr. Wardak was a visiting professor at the faculty of Law at Kabul University, and in 2007 he served as an instructor for Afghan graduates at the centre for legal training (NCLT) in Kabul. He is also a prominent researcher and has been affiliated with University of Edinburgh, and University of Glamorgan, where he also undertook teaching in criminology and criminal Justice. He has published several books and has contributed with an extensive amount of journal articles. Dr.Wardak holds a PhD in criminology and is a prominent member of several professional bodies such as the British society of criminology.
Seema Ghani is working as a consultant, and is in the process of setting up a consulting company. She has worked within the private sector, for charities and NGOs, foundations, and for the government. This wide range of experiences working in Afghanistan also includes UNAMA in 2002. Ms Ghani's academic background is within computing and management, with two Masters programme completed, one in international business and another in development studies. She is born and brought up in Afghanistan, where she completed her schooling, while her higher education is mainly done in the UK.
Kanishka Nawabi is an aid worker and researcher with 12 years experience in Afghanistan and Pakistan with aid delivery, civil society, peace building and conflict resolution. He is a founding member of Cooperation for Peace and Unity (CPAU) and currently serves as its Manager since 2005. Before engaging in CPAU Mr. Nawabi was heavily engaged in the Afghan Aid community working for a number of NGOs in Afghanistan. In 2002 he joined the Salvation Army in the UK and worked for London HQs. He was the co-chair of Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium in 2005-2006 and also a Steering Committee member of Agency Coordination Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR). In 2006 he was elected Civil Society Afghan National Development Strategy (CSANDS) Advisory Board Member. More recently Mr. Nawabi has been engaged in establishing a London based office for CPAU in order to improve its research and potential in achieving policy change at the international level.
