Hashim Wahdatyar is a Project Officer supporting the Afghan Refugee School Impact (ARSI) & Afghan Youth Mentoring (AYM) Program. With over 15 years of experience, Hashim served international organizations in various capacities, including as Spokesperson for United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan, and Program Officer, Regional Program for Afghanistan, and Neighboring Countries, managed the Center for Civilians in Conflict’s programs for the Middle East and South Asia, and served as Program Director at the Institute of Current World Affairs in Washington DC.
After the September 11 attacks in New York and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Hashim joined the European Commission program at the Prime Minister’s Compound in Kabul. He assisted the capacity-building program for the civil servants for four years. In 2007, Hashim was selected as a National Strategic Analyst at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). While there, he organized an international conference on counter-narcotics and alternative development in Kabul with the participation of 46 countries and 14 international organizations. He also produced three analytical reports. Due to his communication skills and good performance, Hashim was promoted to Program Officer, Regional Program for Afghanistan, and Neighboring Countries until 2016. In this role, he supported the implementation of a $20 million program and organized over ten ministerial meetings in the eight countries of the region. He also joined high-level delegations of the United Nations in policy meetings with the Presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other ministerial officials from the eight countries of the region. Further, Hashim conducted over 100 travels to the region to work with neighboring governments on regional cooperation on narcotics, narco-terrorism, and alternative development. In addition to this role, Hashim was also given the title of Spokesperson of UNODC from 2009 until 2016, and interviewed by media more than 200 times.
In 2016, Hashim moved to Virginia and worked for Asia Society Policy Institute, Accion International, and Center for Civilians in Conflict as Senior Program Manager for Middle East and South Asia. Then, he was hired as Program Director at the Institute of Current World Affairs in Washington, D.C., where he organized and moderated three panels on peace and conflict in Afghanistan with ambassador-level panelists. In addition, as a peace activist, he conducted several meetings with the leaders of the Taliban in Qatar on ceasefire and peace. Importantly, Hashim is also Daniel Druckman Fellow conducting research on civilians and Afghan refugees in peace process. Furthermore, Hashim contributed to a book project on Afghanistan and India Strategic Relations initiated by the Center for Airpower Studies in New Delhi. Hashim wrote a chapter on India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in the Past Three Decades.
Moreover, Hashim has substantial achievements of writing opinion pieces, taking part on panels, and providing media commentary on conflicts and international relations. He has written numerous opinion pieces. The op-eds are published by well-known journals, including BBC, the Diplomat, and Politics Today on peace and conflict in Afghanistan. Hashim has been regularly interviewed by media: namely, BBC, Voice of America, and Aljazeera about Afghanistan and the region. In addition, Hashim is also a fellow of Asia Society 21 Young Leaders, where he was able to produce an initiative of ten ideas for ten years for the former government of Afghanistan and worked with the government on Bilateral Security Agreement with the U.S.
After the collapse of the Afghan government and US forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Hashim began voluntary work with the Afghan refugees in the United States. Through Upwardly Global, Hashim voluntarily helped Afghan refugees integrate into the US workforce and took part on the panel of Upwardly Global to guide the Afghan refugees in finding their professional jobs in the US.
Hashim holds a bachelor’s in business administration from Kardan University in Afghanistan, a master’s in international Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid from Proyetco Institute in Spain, and completing second master’s in political science from George Mason University in Virginia, USA.
Hashim joined the Center for Community Health in 2023.