Mahmoud Saikal Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the UN Date of Birth: 01.01.1962 Country: Afghanistan

1. Early Life and Education
2. Diplomatic Career
3. Senior Roles in Afghanistan
4. Permanent Representative to the UN

Early Life and Education

Omar Samad was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan. He graduated from Lycee Esteqlal French School in 1979 and went on to study at Kabul University. Amidst the Soviet-Afghan War, Samad left Afghanistan and emigrated to Australia. In 1986, he earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Canberra. Samad continued his education at the University of Sydney (graduating in 1988) and received a Master's degree in International Development from Deakin University. He is fluent in Dari, Pashto, English, and has proficiency in French and Arabic.

Diplomatic Career

Samad began his diplomatic career as First Secretary and later Minister-Counsellor at the Afghan Embassy in Japan (1993). In late 1994, he was appointed Honorary Consul of Afghanistan in Australia and served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Australia and New Zealand from 2002 to 2005. Upon returning to Afghanistan, Samad became Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. Citing corruption within the ministry, he resigned in late 2006 and became an advisor to the United Nations Development Program on Afghanistan's development strategy.

Senior Roles in Afghanistan

From 2007 to 2010, Samad taught at the University of Canberra and served as a guest lecturer at the Australian National University's Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy. In 2014, he was appointed Special Representative and Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive of Afghanistan. Samad's efforts culminated in Afghanistan's accession to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC). Additionally, he played a pivotal role in regional economic cooperation and was involved in negotiations leading to the formation of a unity government in 2014.

In early 2015, Samad was considered for the position of Minister of Energy and Water in the unity government. However, he withdrew his candidacy just before parliamentary approval, which was replaced by Abdul Rahman Salahi. Some sources suggest that Samad's nomination was rejected alongside others due to parliamentarians' concerns over dual citizenship (in his case, Australian citizenship).

Permanent Representative to the UN

Subsequently, in June 2015, Samad was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations in New York City. He has held this position since October 2015.