Hakim Asher
Abdul Hakim Asher (born October 12, 1977) is one of the most influential spokespersons of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He was appointed by President Hamid Karzai to lead the Government Media and Information Center, "GMIC" where he currently serves as Executive Director. A former journalist, Hakim Asher's articles have appeared throughout Afghanistan and he is widely quoted on complex public policy by national and international media. He graduated from Kabul University in 2000 where he studied medicine and holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Gulbarga University in India. He is fluent in several languages including Dari, Pashto, and English.
Early Life
Abdul Hakim Asher was born on October 12, 1977 in the Bagram district of Parwan province in central Afghanistan north of Kabul. In 1985 during the Soviet War in Afghanistan, Hakim Asher's family decided to leave their home for Pakistan. The long journey by car was slowed by thousands of other Afghan families attempting to cross the border as refugees. In Tora Bora, the family abandoned its car, walking seven days to their new home in Pakistan. His family settled in Peshawar, where Asher attended Imam e Azam elementary school and Sayed Jamaludeen Afghan high school. Asher's family continued to grow to seven children. As the oldest brother, he worked numerous jobs as a youngster in Peshawar to help with the family's finances.
Early Career
Like many Afghans of his generation, Hakim Asher's early career is punctuated with overlapping periods of professional experience and higher education studies. Early on, Asher developed an interest in public policy studies. He became convinced that one of the most compelling public policy issues of his day in Afghanistan was the country's lack of healthcare. In 1996, he entered Kabul Medical University where he studied medicine in the hopes of integrating his knowledge into public policy rather than becoming a practicing physician. During this time, he also worked as a professional journalist. He became editor of a newspaper, Bo Ali Seena. Asher used his position to expose political corruption. Later, he signed on with The New York Times and NBC News as an interpreter, working alongside correspondents covering the U.S. entry into Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom Asher credits those experiences as broadening his journalistic credentials while giving him invaluable contacts with Afghan and international reporters.
In 2002, Asher combined his interest in public policy, healthcare, and journalism to join the Japan International Cooperation Agency, "JICA" as a Health Program Officer. The mixture of his experience energized Asher whose top priority in the organization was to help ensure the effective operation of health sector administration and finance including grants, inventory, personnel, logistics, and public communications. It was the latter priority that would take hold in his later career as one of Afghanistan's leading public spokespersons. JICA later promoted Asher to Education Program Officer, which led to his joining the Save the Children organization.
Later Career
Asher's experience as a journalist and expertise in Afghan public policy led to the significant appointment in 2005 as Director of Media and Public Relations for the Ministry of Interior. The ministry held the responsiblity for rapidly training and building the Afghan National Police and other security entities. As its spokesperson, Asher was thrust to the forefront of many of the public issues that dominated Kabul and its relations with the NATO-ISAF coalition. During the time, Asher became a frequent presence in the nation's growing number of newspapers, radio, and television stations discussing complex public policy issues including security and counter-narcotics. He also entered a long-distance learning program through Gulbarga University in India, eventually earning a degree in Political Science.
During his tenure at the Ministry of Interior, Asher traveled to all 34 provinces with Minister Ahmad Moqbel Zarar who is currently the Minster of Counter Narcotics. In Jalabad in 2007, the Minister's convoy came under attack. Asher and others escaped injury as security battled Taliban insurgents for four hours.
By 2009, Asher's constant media presence and growing experience communicating Afghan government policy led to his appointment at the fledgling Government Media and Information Center, "GMIC." The organization was established to coordinate news conferences, strategic communication, and expand the government's interaction with both national and international reporters. In December 2011, The New York Times said the GMIC is "a relative success, providing a focal point for news conferences, and in the process encouraging officials to hold them. That is a big change from a few years ago when some government ministries would request that questions be submitted by fax, even though they did not have working fax machines."
Under Asher's leadership, GMIC continued to grow and expand its media outreach. As its primary spokesperson, Asher conducted hundreds of interviews representing the government's positions while managing the center's growing staff. In 2010-2011, the GMIC hosted nearly 300 news conferences and journalist round-tables. Afghan government ministers, high-level government officials, the High Council for Peace, international diplomats, and military commanders used the center's state-of-the-art facility to conduct news conferences. The center also provided staff to the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson while providing daily media monitoring reports directly to President Karzai.
As part of its charter to help build human capacity of Afghan's government communicators, Asher implemented an aggressive continuing education program at the center. Calling on the expertise of fellow Afghan communicators such as General Mohammad Zahir Azimi--spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense--and those in the international community, the center conducted dozens of communication skills courses. The curriculuae included news release writing, spokesperson skills, and an array of technical training such as videography and editing. By late 2011, spokespersons from all 34 provinces traveled to Kabul to take part in the GMIC education courses.
In the spring of 2011, President Karzai issued a decree, officially instilling Asher as Executive Director of GMIC. The appointment brought expanded responsibilities manager and as a government spokesperson. Beyond conducting daily interviews with reporters on public policy issues, Asher also represented the government at various international conferences and siminars. In November 2011, Asher traveled to Dubai to present GMIC capabilities to NATO communicators. In addition, he traveled with President Karzai to international meetings including Istanbul in October 2011 and Pakistan in February 2012.