CURRICULUM VITAE

of

His Excellency Mohammed Yahya P. Maroofi

Secretary-General of the Economic Cooperation Organization

mbassador Maroofi was born on 5 March 1939 in Kabul Afghanistan where his father Mohammed Osman Pashtoon, a well-known writer and activist, President of the Afghan Association of Letters and Literature. The family returned to their home town, Kandahar, in 1943 where he spent most of his childhood and attended school. He returned to Kabul in 1959 and enrolled in Kabul University. He graduated with honors in Law and International relations in 1963. As an honor he joined the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador Maroofi has fluent spoken and written knowledge of Dari (Farsi), Pashtu, English and French and has knowledge of Urdu.

Between 1963 and 1969 he served in several departments including the Law and Treaties and the Secretariat in the Foreign Ministry. In 1968 he went to Australia to attend a "Diplomatic Course" sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs in Canberra. In 1969 he was appointed Attaché to the permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United States to pursue a Masters program in International relations and graduated  Cum Laude from Fairleigh Dickson University in 1972. He returned to Kabul in 1973 and was assigned as member of the United Nations and International Relations Department. He became Deputy Director of the department in 1974 and Director in 1977, a post he held until 1979 when the Soviet backed regime seized power and threw the county in turmoil that span for over two decades.

 During his period of service with the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Maroofi attended numerous International Meetings, Meetings of Foreign Ministers and Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, meetings of UNCTAD, ECOSOC, Meetings of the Non-Aligned, and meetings related to Drug Abuse Control.

In 1981 Ambassador Maroofi and his family left Afghanistan and were granted refuge in Switzerland. He embarked on a second career in 1983 as an international civil servant with the International Organization for Migration. Initially acting as Special Emissary for the Director – General, he went on to become Regional Advisor and Regional Representative and served as Diplomatic Liaison for South and Central Asia and Special Envoy of the Director – General for Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan a post he held until 2001.

Throughout his sojourn in Switzerland, Ambassador Maroofi was active in mobilizing world public opinion in favor of Afghanistan's struggle against foreign oppression and the plight of afghan refugees around the world and humanitarian issues that confronted them. It was his extensive experience in international relations, love and dedication for his people and his efforts in their cause that led the President of Afghanistan to call him personally and ask that he return to Afghanistan. Ambassador Maroofi was one of several Afghans who answered the President's call to duty and served as Minister, Advisor on International relations to the President. He accompanied the President on numerous State Visits( France, Germany, the United States, Japan, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, India) and served in the State's highest decision – making body as member of the National Security Council (NSC)

Recognizing the importance of establishing more direct ties with countries in Scandinavia the Government of Afghanistan designated Mr. Maroofi as its first Ambassador resident in Oslo and responsible for Denmark, Sweden Iceland and Finland. He presented his credentials to His Majesty King V as Resident Afghan Ambassador to Norway on 6 October 2004.  In May 2007 he was appointed Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran, a post he held until his election as Secretary-General to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in May 2009.

Ambassador Maroofi is married to Soraya Ludin Maroofi and they have a son named Yama and a daughter named Sabrina. Mrs. Maroofi started her career with the United Nations in Kabul and served with the Afghan Permanent Mission of Afghanistan in New York. On return to Afghanistan she was appointed Personal Assistant to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. She left the Foreign Ministry in 1974 to work with the United Nations Children Fund in Kabul and subsequently with the International Trade Center until 1981 when they left Kabul for Switzerland. From 1983 she holds the position of Register of the Webster University, Switzerland.

Ambassador Maroofi is looking forward to the challenges before him as Secretary-Genera of ECO in Tehran.

Positions held in Government Services:

1965-1966         Member of the Law and Treaties Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul

1966-1969         Member of the Secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kabul

1969-1973          Attaché to the permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations, New York

1973-1974          Member, United Nations and International Relations Department, Minister of                Foreign Affairs

1974-1977          Deputy Director, United Nations Affairs and International Relations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul

1977-1979          Director, United Nations and International Relations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul and National Coordinator of Narcotics, Government of Afghanistan

1984-1999 Regional Advisor , Regional Representative and Diplomatic Liaison for South and Central Asia and Special Envoy of the Director General of the International Organization for Migration for Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan

2002-2004 Minister, Advisor to the President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan in International Relations

2002-2004        Member of the National Security Council (NSC)

2004-2007        Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Oslo and non resident Ambassador to Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Finland

2007-2009        Ambassador extraordinary & plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

2007-2009        Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Economic Cooperation Organization

2008-2009        Non-Resident Ambassador extraordinary & plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Republic of Azerbaijan

International and Regional Organizations

1986 – 2001      International Organization for Migration (IOM)

2009 -              Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)