News
- Acting Director of Communication & Public Relation Department Introduced
- Commencement of underground water survey project in Faryab province
- Inauguration of Development Projects in Herat Province
- MRRD Marks Prosperous Birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
- Toward solving the problem of drinking water
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MoreMRRD Deputy Minister Biography
Eng. Wais Ahmad Barmak
Deputy Minister, Programmes
Mr. Wais Ahmad Barmak is an MSc graduate (Development Studies) from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, UK. Prior to holding this post-graduate degree, he obtained a BSc degree, with Honours in Architecture, from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Kabul University.
Mr. Barmak is currently Deputy Minister, Programmes for Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD). Before his appointment in this position, he served as the Executive Director of the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) executed by the MRRD for more than two years responsible for the programme’s overall management and
leadership with USD 285 million in annual funding.
Until October 2006, Mr. Barmak was Senior Advisor/Chief Coordinator of the National Rural Access Programme (NRAP), where he was responsible for the programme’s management and supervision on behalf of two executing ministries i.e. MRRD and Ministry of Public Works. In particular, he supervised overall programme activities, facilitated the approval of programme resources and funds through the programme Steering Committee, developed the master plan for a national network of village roads, monitored programme implementation, and maintained positive relations with donor organizations such as WB, DFID, EC, JSDF, and USAID.
Mr. Barmak commenced his work with the MRRD in September 2004 as a Senior Advisor on Capacity Development and Programmes. In this capacity he was responsible for developing and supervising strategic organizational development plans and budget planning guidelines. Mr. Barmak has played significant role in developing monitoring and evaluation framework for MRRD. To maintain programmes operational transparency and accountability he was responsible to oversee that all MRRD contracts signed with the donors would comply with the government regulations and procedures.
He prepared reports for submission to the government Ministries and donors.
He also served as Acting Deputy Minister in the past years, in the absence of Deputy Minister, Programmes.
Before joining MRRD, Mr. Barmak was Senior Advisor to the Department of Disaster Management and Preparedness in Afghanistan. In 2002, he worked as Policy/Programme Officer with the Programme, Policy, and Planning Unit in UNAMA in Kabul. He also worked as Programme Officer and Deputy Regional Coordination Officer
for the United Nations Coordinator’s Office (UNCO) for Afghanistan in Kabul.
While working with the UN Coordinator’s Office in Kabul, he was Officer-in-Charge/Area Security Coordinator for all UN agencies at difficult times during 2001. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Barmak worked as Senior Programme Officer for ACBAR in Kabul, responsible for ensuring the coordination of NGO activities and the facilitation of liaison activities with central line ministries. Promoting coordination in operational areas gave Mr. Barmak invaluable experience.
In the early days of his professional career, Mr. Barmak worked as Administrative Officer for the UN Coordinator’s Office for Afghanistan in Kabul. In this position he was responsible for financial and personnel management of UNDP and UNOCHA in Kabul.
He assisted the UNDP DRR (O) in planning and management of the day-to-day activities of the UNDP through substantive liaison with almost all levels of the government authorities in Kabul. He was also engaged in facilitating the discussions and meetings between the leadership of the Islamic State of Afghanistan and the UN senior
delegations to ensure arrangements for the smooth power transfer to the interim administration concluded by the involved political groups and parties at Bonn, Germany in December 2001. Mr Barmak has played a significant role in coordinating the provision of humanitarian assistance to the disasters affected and needy people of Afghanistan
between 1996 and 2003 with ACABR and the UN system.
Mr. Barmak’s professional career started with MSFF and ICRC back in 1993. In addition to his formal academic qualifications, Mr. Barmak has participated in numerous national and international conferences, workshops and training courses in the fields of: Management and Accountancy, Afghan Executive Development programme, Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in the Post-conflict Countries, Humanitarian Response in a Complex Political Emergencies; Emergency Responses; Human Rights Development; Leadership Development; Development Planning; and Disaster Responses.
In the course of his study, training, and workshop attendance he has travelled
extensively to countries such as Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, UK, USA, Tajikistan,
Thailand, Sera Lanka, Switzerland, Norway, Austria and India.
