Almas Bawar Zakhilwal

Almas Bawar Zakhilwal is the Canada Country Director for The Senlis Council, an international security and development think tank founded in 2002 with offices in Kabul, London, Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris, with offices in the Afghan cities of Lashkar Gah and Kandahar City.

Mr Bawar Zakhilwal is an Afghan-Canadian, born in Eastern Afghanistan. Following the Soviet-Afghan war in 1979, Mr Bawar Zakhilwal and his family took refuge along with millons of other Afghans in Pakistan. Graduating from high school in 1995, he moved back to Afghanistan to continue his education. He chose to study medicine at Nangarhar Medical University and also volunteered with a number of local and international health organizations.

Since joining The Senlis Council, Mr Bawar Zakhilwal has conducted extensive field research in the southern Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. He has contributed to numerous academic forums on the issues of security, development, and counter-narcotics in Afghanistan. As an official spokesperson for The Senlis Council, he has commented extensively on these issues in a wide range of Canadian media, including CBC, CTV and CPAC.

Mr Bawar Zakhilwal appeared on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEbaTTEnEdg CTV News] in August 2008 to discuss the deaths of four female aid workers near Kabul. He also spoke on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSRIx02pij4 Global National] with regards to the Canadian military casualties, advising military operations to incorporate aid delivery as an additional way to win the Afghan hearts and minds. In June 2008 he appeared on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgyD_vgwEYU CBC’s Newsworld] to discuss the significance of the Donor Conference in Paris, which pledged $20 billion for Afghanistan.

Prior to his position in Canada, Mr Bawar Zakhilwal was the Media Officer for Senlis Afghanistan in Kabul. The Council provides innovative analysis and recommendations on the connection between foreign policy, security, development and counter narcotics policies. It convenes politicians, high profile academics, independent experts and NGOs in order to accomplish its mission. It aims to work as the dialogue partner with senior policy makers at the national and international levels in order to foster high-level exchanges and new ideas on bridging security, development and counter-narcotics policy.

External links

* [http://www.senliscouncil.net Senlis Council online]