AICS Governance
Mr. Najmuddin Najm
acting chairman-bod
Dr. Najmuddin Najm is the current Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in Afghanistan, also previously has held the responsibilities of Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Regional Director in AKF.
Dr. Najm holds an MD from Balkh University followed by a Graduate degree from the Program for Leadership Development from IESE Business School of Navarra University, and a MA in Conflict, Security and Development from the University of Bradford supplemented with Management Course for Development Practitioners (PMCE), organized by MDF-Training & Consultancy (MDF), at Ede, the Netherlands, Leadership and Succession Planning Training conducted by UK based Creative Metier Limited, and Community Based Social Development training course at Community Health Science Department of the Aga Khan University – Karachi.
Ms. Nagina Yari
Board Vice-Chairperson
Born in Ghor, Afghanistan, Negina Yari is a civil society activist, Education and Peace expert, Executive Director of Afghanistan Peace House (APH), Chair of Women Advisory Group (WAG) to Humanitarian Coordination Team (HCT).
Ms. Yari by profession is a BA graduate with an MBA degree, with 12 years of contributing work and engagement to Afghanistan civil society development. Worked with a wide range of civil society stakeholders and INGO to name a few Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium, The Killied Group, Afghanistan Development Association, Afghans 4 Tomorrow, Afghanistan Peace House, Creative Associate International, and, Afghan Children Read.
Ms. Yari has been a key member of the Civil Society Joint Working Group (CSJ-WG). She has been a delegate to the Open Government Global Summit 2019 Ottawa Canada, Afghan Women Peace Group Sri Lanka 2019, Women and Peace Talks South Asian Countries (Nepal) and Afghanistan women Peace engagement program 2018. She is fluent in Dari, Pashto, Urdu, and English with strong interpersonal communication skills and the ability to engage in high-level discussions.
Mr. Mohammad Ehsan Zia
board Member
As Country Director of United States Institute of Peace in Afghanistan Mr, Zia is engaged in bottom-up and top-down peace building in support of the ongoing Intra Afghan Peace Negotiation. As a former Minister of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development he provided strategic guidance and oversight to high-performing governmental institution with thousands of staff and $500 million plus annual budget portfolio. Minister Zia is the pioneer of peace – building, conflict resolution and `do no harm` in Afghanistan. He co-founded and served as chairperson for the Cooperation for Peace and Unity (CPAU) through which he developed local capacities for peace, supported peace education and developed the capacities of development organizations on the analytical framework of do no harm. He has authored several articles and papers on peacebuilding. He was awarded by the President of Colombia for “innovation in international development practice” the design and implementation of the National Solidarity Program. He was also recognized by Citizens Councils and Provincial Shuras of several provinces in Afghanistan for high performance.
Mr. Baryalai Omarzai
board Member
Mr. Baryalai Omarzai is currently member of the AICS Board of Directors, born in 1963 in Kabul, Afghanistan, completed his Bachelors of Science in Engineering from Kabul university in 1983, and holds a Masters in Business Administration from Preston University in Pakistan. Mr. Omarzai was one of the founding members of AICS, Chairman of Afghans Coordination against Corruption (AFCAC), and Executive director of Afghan NGOs Coordination Bureau (ANCB). Mr. Omarzai represented Afghanistan’s NGO sector on a number of International platforms to name a few International conferences on Afghanistan in Bonn and Tokyo, Civicus International Conference in Montreal, TVET International Conference Philippines, and Afghan European Civil Society Conference. Adding to Mr. Omarzai’s professional background is membership with CIVICUS, International Vocational Educational Training Association (IVETA), ECO NGOs Network/ ADNA, Civil Society consultation Board for peace member of Technical ad leadership Committee in the Ministry of Economy.
Ms. Freshta Karimi
board Member
Ms. Fereshta Karimi with an impressive body of work backing her career in the Non-profit sector has a degree in Law, followed by a master’s degree in criminal law & Criminology. Ms. Karimi’s professional career encompasses founding and leading NGOs namely The Qanoon Ghushtonky and Women’s Unity for Rehabilitation (WUR) and representing Afghan Civil society locally and Internationally on a number of the highly regarded platforms to name a few, including the London conference on Afghanistan (2014), The Brussels conference (2016), and Geneva conference (2018), all this any many more in a span of over nineteen years. Ms. Karimi has a profound knowledge of the Rule of Law, Access to Justice, Human rights, women’s rights and Gender that is explicitly evident in her practice of research, which spreads over subjects such as violence against women, women’s access to justice and women’s access to education in Afghanistan.
Mr. Mohammad Zakir Stanikzai
board Member
Zakir Stanikzai, is a development and humanitarian specialist, He worked with NGOs and UN agencies for many years and he has recognized expertise in humanitarian and development particularly community development, local governance and civil society. Zakir has extensive background in leadership and managment of big and complex projects.
He was the Executive Director of Afghanistan institute for civil society (AICS) where He leads the strategic direction and effective delivery of AICS’s programmatic work to promote civil society in Afghanistan. He has also led program development and implementation, quality, and knowledge management functions at Community world service (CWS), Aga Khan foundation (AKF) and United nations development program (UNDP).
Zakir Stanikzai is currently the country director for War Child in Yemen.
Ms. Nargis Nehan
board Member
Nargis Nehan “Iron Woman of Kabul by Bloomberg” migrated to Pakistan during civil war when she was just 12 years old. While her family’s priority was to meet the very basic needs of life, given the very high desire she had for education, her family supported her to complete her education.
Ms. Nehan has served public offices as Director General of the Treasury Department at the Ministry of Finance, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education, and Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education. During her service, Ms. Nehan initiated several reform projects such as centralization and computerization of government revenues and expenditures, establishment of Treasury Single Account, establishment of the Grants Management Unit in Ministry of Education and many more.
Ms. Nehan founded Equality for Peace and Democracy (EPD) a civil society organization for empowering women and youth. As of now EPD is working in 16 provinces of Afghanistan. During this time Ms. Nehan also served as member of Supreme Council of Afghanistan Central Bank.
On formation of the Unity Government Ms. Nehan once again joined the government, serving as Advisor to President for two years and Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum for almost three years. Currently besides advocating for women’s rights, she is a freelance consultant working for international organizations and firms.
Mr. Mirwais Wardak
board Member
Mirwais Wardak is a development worker and researcher with almost 20 years of experience working with aid community in Afghanistan. He has worked on projects related to human security, community development, peacebuilding and conflict resolution and civil society development with a number of Afghan NGOs. He is currently working as Managing Director with Peace Training and Research Organization (PTRO). He has received his MA from Post- War Recovery Unit, The University of York (2005).
He has been part of a number of researches including NSP mid-term evaluation 2005, Afghan Religious Civil Society (June – November 2006), Transformation of War Economies (August – October 2006), Afghan Hearts, Afghan Minds (2008) and Drivers for Radicalization (2009). Since he started to work as director of PTRO in 2010 he has been part of researches and evaluations PTRO is conducting including a case study on Integrity and Transparency of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan with Transparency International (TI), and was team member with CMI and Scanteam doing a corruption risk assessment for the Danish Embassy funding in Afghanistan. He was also part of External Review of ARTF in 2017 carried out by Scanteam and PTRO.