Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani

Dr. Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani is a former politician from Afghanistan. He has served as governor of Herat province from January 2009 to August 2010. In September 2018, President Ashraf Ghani appointed Nuristani to the Wolesi Jirga, the upper body of parliament in Afghanistan. From 2005 to 2008 he was the 1st Deputy Defense Minister, Government of Afghanistan.

From 1992 to 1996 Nuristani has worked as a Project Coordinator, Basic Education for Afghan Refugees, GTZ/UNHCR- sponsored project, in Peshawar, Pakistan. As a project coordinator, Nuristani managed programs aimed at serving educational needs of Afghan refugee children from grades one through six in the entire North West Frontier Province of Pakistan; provided overall guidance and coordination between GTZ and collaborating organizations (e.g. Ministry of Education, UNHCR, UNICEF, EU Commission for Afghan Refugees) in terms implementing formal and informal educational projects; forged relations with various religious and political organizations interested in working in the educational field of Afghan refugee children who also promoted curriculums based on own ideologies and political thoughts; served as chairman of ACBAR educational committee, and in this capacity created curriculum standards that adequately served educational and cultural needs of children. From 1988 to 1990 Nuristani worked as a Senior Cultural Specialist, United States Information Service (USIS)-Afghan Program, in Peshawar, Pakistan. In this position, Nuristani administered US international visitors exchange program (I.V.) by sending prospective political leaders to the US in order to acquire leadership and democratic skills; facilitated Fulbright, Hubert Humphrey, and North and South Fellowship and other fellowship and scholarship exchange programs; worked closely with Afghan resistance leaders and parties in Pakistan in order to promote good working relations and understanding between Afghan resistance parties and the US foreign mission in Pakistan; established the monthly 8-page journal, called Itlaat, in order to disseminate information on US foreign policies and other relevant issues in the region.

From 1975 to 1978, Nuristani worked as a Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant in the Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America. He also worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Kabul University, Kabul, Afghanistan. He has been actively involved in Afghan politics for the last 30 years and has participated in major conferences related to Afghan issues. He was one of the founding members of the Writer's Union of Free Afghanistan (WUFA) as well as the Afghan Professor's University Association (APUA) during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan while living in Peshawar, Pakistan. He received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona.

Dr. Nuristani was a central figure in the 2014 election crisis of Afghanistan, as the chairman of the election commission his deputies were accused of ballot stuffing in favor of president Ashraf Ghani. Nuristani has been a controversial figure in the election process of Afghanistan and, despite Afghan public opinion being against him, he insisted on staying as chairman of the election commission. March 26, 2016, in a surprise move Nuristani resigned from his post as the chairman of election commission.

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