In 1982, Mr. Wardak resumed his studies in pharmacy at the University of Punjab, inLahore, Pakistan and graduated in 1986. In the same year he began a decade of service tothe people of Afghanistan (1986-1996) with the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA),one of the largest international NGOs working for the people of Afghanistan from across theborder. He first started as a Deputy Director and later worked as Director of the healthdepartment of SCA implementing the most comprehensive health service program inAfghanistan at the time.From April 1996 till December 2001, Mr. Wardak managed the UNDP’s largest CommunityBased Rehabilitation Program for Disabled People, establishing and directing physicalrehabilitation and social reintegration services for thousands of disabled people acrossAfghanistan. In 1999-2000, alongside his job, he completed with honors a Master ofBusiness Administration at Princeton University, in Peshawar.In 22 years of refugee life in Pakistan (1979-2001), Mr. Wardak had many opportunities tosettle in the West, but remained committed to serving the Afghan people by organizing anddirecting support programs in Afghanistan and standing with his people in the mostdifficult period of their history.In January 2002, shortly after the establishment of the Interim Administration ofAfghanistan, following the Bonn Agreement, Mr. Wardak returned to Afghanistan. Hestarted working as UNDP Assistant Resident Representative, and continued that job tillOctober 2001.Between November 2002 and February 2004, Mr. Wardak was appointed as Director of theConstitutional Commission Secretariat and later as the Operational Manager of theConstitutional Loya Jirga (a Grand Assembly that approved the Constitution), responsible

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for developing a new constitution for Afghanistan. Mr. Wardak, in addition to managing thestaff members involved in the process, also managed a major program of civic education,public consultation gathering 2.7 million views of the Afghan people and public opinionanalysis, which resulted in providing concrete proposals for the new constitution, ensuringthat the timetable of the Bonn Agreement was met.In February 2004, following the completion of the Constitution Drafting and AdoptingProcess, Mr. Wardak was appointed as the Director of the Joint Election Management BodySecretariat (a joint UN and Afghan body). As Chief Election Officer, he was responsible forrecruiting, training, coordinating, and directing over 140,000 staff involved in the voterregistration of 11.5 million eligible voters, public information and education campaigns andthe implementation of the first ever 2004 Presidential Election.In February 2005, Mr. Wardak became Secretary to the Council of Ministers and Director-General of the Office of Administrative Affairs of the President, the main centralcoordinating agency of the Afghan Government.In January 2006, soon after the Parliamentary Election, Mr. Wardak was appointed asMinister of State for Parliamentary Affairs while keeping his responsibilities as Secretary tothe Council of Ministers and Director-General of the Office of Administrative Affairs. Hemanaged establishing and maintaining working relationship amongst the three pillars ofthe Afghan Government.In October 2006, Mr. Wardak was appointed as Member and Director of Secretariat of theCommission responsible for preparation of the Afghan – Pak Joint Peace Jirga. Later, hebecame Deputy Head of the Commission following the decision of the Afghan-Pak JointPeace Jirga, alongside with his responsibilities as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairsand Director General of the Office of Administrative Affairs and Council of MinistersSecretariat.On October 20th, 2008, as result of the cabinet reshuffling, Mr. Wardak was appointed asMinister of Education. He is responsible for overall strategic and day to day leadership ofthe Ministry of Education in the country.Besides his job as Minister of Education, he was appointed in April 2010 by the President ofthe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as chairman of the Commission responsible for holdingthe first ever National Consultative Peace Jirga and later as its operational manager,bringing 1700 representatives from all walks of life in Afghanistan, which put forth adeclaration for bringing a lasting peace and reconciliation in the country. In November2010, he was elected as chairman of the international affairs committee of the High PeaceCouncil, established by the President following recommendations of the NationalConsultative Peace Jirga.

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