Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai
Jennings Randolph Afghanistan Fellow
May
1, 2008 - February 28, 2009
Project Focus:
Security, Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Afghanistan
Afghanistan | South Asia | Demobilization of Illegal Armed Groups Disarmament
| Demobilization and Reintegration | Humanitarian and Post-Conflict Infrastructure Development and
Stabilization | Post-Conflict Reconstruction
Phone: (202) 429-3874
E-mail: mstanekzai@usip.org
Languages: Dari |
Pashto
An adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and vice chair of the Demobilization and Reintegration
Commission, a group responsible for the disbandment of illegal armed groups, Mohammad Masoom
Stanekzai’s research focuses on security, reconstruction and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
From 2002 to 2004, he was minister of telecommunication/information and communications technology
in the Afghan Transitional Government. During this time, he developed and implemented a major
reform and restructuring program that was one of the success stories of post-conflict
reconstruction in the country. Prior to that, he was director of the Agency for Rehabilitation and
Energy Conservation in Afghanistan. He has 25 years of substantive experience in design and
management, including the telecom sector, humanitarian and community development, renewable energy,
governance and security sector reform. He has worked with government entities, the Afghanistan
Independent Human Rights Commission, NGOs, the U.N., and private sectors in Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Iran. Most recently, he completed a draft regulatory framework for the operation of private
security companies in Afghanistan, which was adopted by the government.
Stanekzai earned a master’s degree in philosophy of engineering for sustainable development from
Cambridge University and a master’s in business management from Preston University. He has a B.A.
from the Kabul Telecom Institute and is a graduate of the Kabul Military University.
Publications