Nooristan Foundation Receives Support from Hamed Wardak

The Nooristan Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides support for charitable and educational projects in rural areas of Afghanistan. Each spring, they host an annual gala. The gala this year, entitled “An Evening of Hope to Benefit Afghanistan” will take place at the residence of His Excellency the Ambassador of France Pierre Vimont in Washington, D.C.

In a show of support, Hamed Wardak, has just contributed $20,000 and has become a Gold Sponsor of the Nooristan Foundation’s Gala. His support will help a village school and a midwife training program, while also helping the livelihoods of displaced people in three different areas of the country.

Building Up Afghanistan

Today, efforts are being made in Afghanistan to build up the country, with a special emphasis on constructing more much needed educational centers. Hamed Wardak is an Afghan-American who has been seeking to improve conditions for the people of Afghanistan for many years. Local land owners - in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – banded together to create an additional five school buildings for the country’s southwestern province of Nimroz. UNICEF donated $350,000 to the project. What this means for those children who will be direct beneficiaries of this project is being able to study in a building, rather than a tent. The schools will be available for both boys and girls.

Hamed Wardak and Great Afghanistan Developments

Hamed Wardak seeks to improve the quality of life for the people of Afghanistan. He is the founding vice president of the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce and works hard to “generate local employment” in the region. The latest construction in Afghanistan in the Gusfandi and Sancharak districts of the country’s northern province of Sar-e-Pol will make a great asset to Afghanistan.

The most recent construction to hit this region in Afghanistan comprises a staggering 27 water pump wells; 2 water reservoirs; 18 km of road; 41 small bridges; 500 m of supportive walls against flash foods and 2 flour mills. In addition to this, a program for the use of 19 women for tailor training was developed in the same area. What is great about all these projects is that around 5,000 families in Afghanistan will be able to benefit from them.

Afghanistan’s Economy and Hamed Wardak

According to the World Bank, things are looking up for the economy of Afghanistan. Individuals such as Hamed Wardak, who work continuously toward the betterment of the quality of life for the people of Afghanistan, would be very happy to hear this news. For example, there has been an escalation of GDP between 2009-10, higher than ever since 2003, at a record 22.5%. As well, domestic revenues during the same time frame increased a staggering 53% from 2008-09. The production of wheat almost doubled compared to the last five years, and mining is booming. What will also please Afghan activists like Hamed Wardak and the Afghanistanian people is that inflation in the country is extremely low.

Afghanistan’s Economic Future and Hamed Wardak

Of course, current news on Afghanistan’s economy is all well and good, but those working for the continued betterment of the country want to know what the future looks like. Thankfully, the World Bank predicts that Afghanistan’s economic future looks bright too. GDP for 2010-11 is predicted to be just over 8% and inflation, just under 5% even though disinflation seems to be at a halt. As well, the boom in mining will continue and cereal production prospects look good. So this kind of news is great for the people of Afghanistan, and for activists such as Hamed Wardak.

Hamed Wardak and Afghan Cricket

Hamed Wardak is someone who is always looking towards improving the quality of life for the people of Afghanistan. As such, any venture that supports education for its youth, would be a welcome one. Currently, the region’s cricket team is selling cricket jerseys through a website which is great. But what is interesting to a man like Hamed Wardak is that the money that will be raised from the sale of these jerseys is going towards constructing a school in the village of each cricket player. The origins behind this idea came from Mohamed Nabi, one of the team’s star players,“an all rounder who can bat consecutive 6’s.” Clearly therefore, as well as being great on the field, Nabi, like Wardak, is trying to find ways to better the lives of the Afghan people, from an early age, via a good education.

Hamed Wardak and Education

Hamed Wardak is also extremely supportive of ventures which work towards the betterment of people’s lives in Afghanistan, might well have something in common with the cricket’s team’s ex-middle order batsman. Raees Ahmadza, is, “committed to education for boys and girls. He is hoping to build a school for girls, as there currently isn’t one, as well as develop the girls cricket team in his village.”

Hamed Wardak and Merrill Lynch

When he first began what has now become a very successful business career, Hamed Wardak worked at Merrill Lynch in different states of America. At the time, Wardak was given multi-million dollar assignments at the company. Today, Merrill Lynch enjoys success not just as a business, but also working with other organizations to try to make advancements in important areas such as health care. For example, the company recently is due to hold their Health Care Conference, with participants such as CONMED Corporation. This Corporation works with surgical devices within the medical technology area.

Wardak and Health Care

Someone like Hamed Wardak would be only too pleased with exciting new projects like this. Such a joint venture between a high-end financial management company and a medical tech company can only be beneficial to everyone involved.

Afghanistan-American Meeting

On Tuesday, May 11th, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened key talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai at the White House. While the two nations have had recent disputes, Clinton emphasized that the United States is committed to helping Afghanistan and that they will continue to support Afghanistan long after U.S. combat troops have withdrawn from the region. This is certainly positive news for Afghan-American leaders like Hamed Wardak and the many others who have been pressing for improved relations between the two nations.

President Obama is expected to meet with President Karzai today, Wednesday, May 12th, to continue the talks.

Angelina Jolie Helping UNHCR

Certainly, every organization wants to have spokespeople and volunteers who can truly make an impact. UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) is lucky enough to have such a person with famous actress Angelina Jolie. Since 2001, American actress Jolie has been traveling the world for UNHCR to help refugees in over 20 countries.

Other important contributors such as Hamed Wardak have also worked tirelessly to contribute to helping refugees in Afghanistan and other locations. Certainly, all of these efforts help UNHCR to get its important and difficult work accomplished.

A More Peaceful Secure Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, recently urged the Taliban to bid farewell to their weapons. Instead, he wants instead to encourage them to talk about their grievances. Karzai was out visiting a particularly violent northern province, when he made the statement. He also committed to his troops remaining in the republic throughout the duration of the fighting, in another effort to establish peace.

At a Kunduz province, Hamid Karzai pushed the matter further. He appealed to all such Taliban rebels to stop their violence and begin standing by Afghanistan’s Constitution.

Karzai is certainly not alone in his desire to create peace. Individuals such as Hamed Wardak, who has clearly learnt lessons from his father Abdul Rahim Wardak (the republic’s Defense Minister), also dreams of a safer Afghanistan.

Afghan President Talks with Insurgent Group

In recent Afghan news, President Hamid Karzai held talks in Kabul this week with representatives of one of the key insurgent groups that are battling his government. The president’s efforst are to push for an eventual reconciliation with the many warring Afghan factions.

While the United States, and many Afghan groups remain wary of these talks, they clearly show that Karzai is pressing ahead with his reconciliation efforts.

These talks involved a small delegation from the Hezb-i-Islami faction who are loyal to former majaheddin comannder Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The Unites States classifies this group as a terrorist entity and many Afghans regard them as being responsible for large-scale human rights violations.

Name of Organization, Fedayeen-e-Sol, Significant Says Wardak

The organization begun by Hamed Wardak, Fedayeen-e-Sol, chose its name very carefully. The word “fedayeen” is usually associated with militants and they purposefully used this wording in order to co-op Islamic names and symbols. The word “fedayeen” is also associated with jihad in terms of personal or collective struggle to do good.

As Hamed Wardak explains, "Our point is to cleanse these names from [their association with] Islamic radicals. We don't want to go in a rabid secularist direction, we want to say we're comfortable with Islam, these Islamic ideals don't belong to you [radicals]."

Poll Results for Successful U.S./NATO Outcome

The Campaign for a U.S. – Afghanistan Partnership, where Hamed Wardak is a founding vice-president, conducted a poll about the U.S. and NATO outcomes in Afghanistan. 56% of respondents said that an understanding of the ideology of the Afghan people is the most important factor for the success of the U.S./NATO alliance.

As Hamed Wardak explains, “These survey results underscore people who are closest to these issues on the ground know that war with radical Taliban and Al Qaeda is one that is based on religious ideology.”

He goes on to explain that, according to Wardak, the results also show that the United States needs to do a better job of “distinguishing between traditional Afghan Muslims and radical Salafi-Taliban figures, and (must) support traditional Muslims while fighting radicalism."

Rhode Scholars - Hamed Wardak, Myron Rolle & Others

When reading someone’s resume, you’ll often notice when they’ve written that they were a Rhodes Scholar. But what does this mean? The Rhodes Scholarship was started in 1902 by the estate of Cecil Rhodes. As the oldest international educational fellowship in the world, it is certainly a prestigious accomplishment to count yourself as part of this group.

Each year, 32 American students join another 50 or so from around the world to study at Oxford University. They enjoy an all-expense pain scholarship to live and study at this prestigious location. The list of Rhodes Scholarships is quite long, and exceptionally varied. It includes everything from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to CUSAP founder Hamed Wardak.

Recent Activities at the AACC

The Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce has been very busy as of late, holding important conferences and engaging in vital dialogues. The Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce, with founding vice-president Hamed Wardak and many others, is a leading organization that works to bring together U.S. and Afghan business, investment and trade ties. They advocate for a free market economy in Afghanistan and they work to strengthen U.S.-Afghan economic ties.

In recent news, the AACC US-Afghanistan Business Matchmaking 2009 was held late last year and was a great success. They had a large turnout and helped to make known business and investment opportunities in Afghanistan and to meet representatives of Afghan companies that are based in Dubai and in Afghanistan. It also facilitated the networking of key private sector, financial and government contacts.

Meeting Omar Olumee

Omar Olumee sits on the board for the Campaign for a US-Afghanistan Partnership (CUSAP) along with Hamed Wardak and Assad A. Mattin. This board, and the organization in general, aims to help Afghanistan to become a strong, prosperous nation with the continued support of the United States.

As a founding member of CUSAP and an Afghan-American, Omar Olumee is also a Senior Consultant on the Business Systems Integration team in Deloitte & Touche’s Public Services Business Unit.

He has a B.A. from George Mason University in International Studies and a Masters in Information Technology from Virginia Tech.

CUSAP Pillars of Action

CUSAP, the Campaign for a US-Afghanistan Partnership, has 9 pillars by which they function. As a nonprofit organization founded by Hamed Wardak and others, they have American and Afghan members, and they work to create a sustainable peace and prosperity for Afghanistan. Two of their 9 pillars include generating a sustainable economic base and uniting leadership.

Generate a Sustainable Economic Base
CUSAP and Hamed Wardak want the United States to help Afghanistan to rebuild its traditional economic base and to develop its wealth of natural resources. Only in this way can Afghanistan have a sustainable economic base and ensure that military-aged men can support their families and build Afghanistan.

United Leadership
According to CUSAP, the United States can help Afghanistan to build a successful government by encouraging Afghan leaders to engage with local and tribal leaders. This will ensure local support and will recognize the important of the tribal system for creating peace in Afghanistan.

3 Pillars of CUSAP

CUSAP is a nonprofit organization founded by 8 people, including Hamed Wardak, that works to promote peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. The Campaign for a US-Afghanistan Partnership has 9 main pillars that guide their work and their efforts. 3 of them will be discussed here.

1. A Commitment to Reduce the Drug Trade: Hamed Wardak and CUSAP want the Afghan government, in partnership with the U.S. to aggressively counteract the drug trade in Afghanistan.

2. Combat Corruption & Foster Good Governance: CUSAP believes that Afghanistan can’t stabilize without reducing corruption and that the U.S. should tie their aid programs and support to progress that Afghanistan makes in the area of corruption.

3. Embrace Traditional Islam to Counter al Qaeda: CUSAP and Hamed Wardak want the U.S. and Afghanistan to embrace moderate Islamic leaders who have shown an ability to combat Islamic extremists. When working with people in Afghanistan towards reconciliation, the U.S. and Afghanistan, according to CUSAP, should separate the traditional Afghan Muslims from radical Salafi-Taliban figures and should only negotiate with traditional Afghan Muslims.

Background on Hamed Wardak

Hamed Wardak has a great deal of experience with U.S. and Afghanistan relations. As the founder of Fedayeen-e-Sol, a multiethnic civil movement that tries to achieve reform in Afghanistan through non-violent means, he works tirelessly for the causes of the Afghan people. He is also the founding vice-president of the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce.

Hamad Wardak is the founder and CEO of Ludus Athletics, a company dedicated to helping people achieve their maximum physical strength and give back to their communities. From 2004-2005, Hamed Wardak was a Managing Director for International Operations with Technologists, Inc. In this capacity, he generated $44 million in design-build contracts in Afghanistan. More recently, he founded, along with 7 others, the Campaign for a US-Afghanistan Partnership (CUSAP) which is a nonprofit organization of American and Afghan citizens. Their goal is to achieve a sustainable peace and security in Afghanistan and to promote prosperity and growth.

Hamed Wardak speaks English, Dari and Pashto and lives between Washington, CD and Kabul.

CUSAP Explains the Conflict in Afghanistan

CUSAP, The Afghanistan Partnership (CUSAP), believes in the future of Afghanistan. In order to achieve their goals, however, founder Hamed Wardak and the many other supporters of CUSAP believe that Afghanistan must have a strong and healthy partnership with the United States. As part of their work, they want people to understand that the situation is Afghanistan is not like the situation in Vietnam. Here are a few reasons why:

While the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese never directly posed a threat to the U.S., the people we are fighting in Afghanistan do directly threaten the U.S.

By the end of the Vietnam War, America was suffering a loss of 1300 soldiers a month. At the height of the fighting in Iraq in 2007, the loses were 75 men a month. In Afghanistan, those numbers are closer to 15 men a month.

Unfortunately, with the economic issues in America, America is much weaker and more vulnerable in their economic and political powers than they were in the 1960s.

Hamed Wardak Gives Back

The U.S.Association for the U.N. Refugee Agency (USA for UNHCR) has recently received a $100,000 contribution. Hamed Wardak has announced his intentions to make this large contribution. As Mr. Wardak explains, “Together with USA for UNHCR, we face new goals and new challenges in Afghanistan. I want my support to reach a diverse and largely disenfranchised group of tribal and ethnic women who shape the fabric and backbone of Afghanistan.”

His contribution is earmarked to help women, especially widows who are considered to be at the highest economic risk. It will also help to increase employment opportunities and to finance programs for Afghans of all ethnicities who have been displayed as a result of the continuing conflict.

The Afghanistan Partnership & Its Mission

As a founder of the Afghanistan Partnership (CUSAP), Hamed Wardak works to maintain strong relationships between Afghanistan and America. This organization desires to achieve economic stability and prosperity in Afghanistan, and recognizes that America is necessary as a key supporter in this plan.

Understanding more about Afghanistan can help people to see the complexity of the situation and to help with the mission that CUSAP has set out. Since the 19th century, three counties have invaded Afghanistan. The United Kingdom was there, leaving in 1919. The Soviet Union invaded from 1979-1989, leaving between 600,000 and 2 million Afghans dead during their time.

The Taliban movement formed in Afghanistan in 1994, and they became a political force in 1996. By the year 2000, they had captured 95% of the country. In the year 2001, the U.S invaded.

Hamed Wardak Calling for Bilateral Agreement

Hamed Wardak, and the Campaign for a US-Afghanistan Partnership, have for many months been calling for a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan. In response to President Obama’s recent interview about Afghanistan on 60 Minutes, Hamed Wardak is reiterating his vision for the U.S.-Afghanistan future relations.

He believes that a U.S.-Afghanistan agreement is as much in the interest of the Afghan people, as the U.S.-Iraq agreement has been in the interest of the people of Iraq. As Mr. Wardak says, “A bilateral agreement would give the U.S. an effective tool with which to demand better results from Kabul. It would benefit the citizenship interests of the people of Afghanistan no less than the security interests of the American people.”

He encourages the idea of America investing in and strengthening the Afghan National Army so that the army can become an ally for the U.S. needs. He explains that many member of the Committee for U.S.-Afghanistan Partnership who have been educated in the West, would love to return home. They cannot do so, however, without America’s help.