Deputy Foreign Minister Adela Raz has been appointed as Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, it has been reported.
Ms. Raz has been appointed by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to replace the country’s current permanent representative Mahmoud Saikal.
She assumed charge as the deputy foreign minister for economic affairs in mid-May, 2016.
Ms. Raz holds an MA degree in Law and Diplomacy with a focus on Economic Development from the Fletcher School/Tufts University and a BA with honors with triple majors in International Relations, Political Science, and Economics from Simmons College in Boston, USA. She also holds a certificate in International Development from the Fletcher School/ Tufts University.
She started her career with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). She identified policy areas where UNAMA Central Field Office could help the Ministry of Women Affairs and its regional offices adopting approaches about women participation in economic and social arenas. She helped running the Political Rights Verification Campaign during the first presidential and parliamentary elections, according to her biography published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2013, Ms. Adela Raz was appointed as a -first female- Deputy Spokesperson and Director of Communications for the President. She moved into a new position as the Chief of Staff at the Administrative Office of the President in November 2014, and in March 2016, she assumed her current post as the new Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Cooperation.
