Alumni interview

Diego Abraham Angelino Velázquez

Full name: Obaid Khan NOORI
Nationality: Afghan
Country of work: Afghanistan
Position: Deputy Director-General
Institution: United Nations and International Conferences Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul
Diplomatic Course: Junior Diplomatic Training Course - 2003 (for two months)
Organized by: Federal Foreign Office – Berlin


Can you tell us a bit about your career path and your motivation to follow this profession?

After achieving my B.A degree in Political Science and LL.B degree, I was very much interested to do something for my war-torn country and its people and with this motivation, following the Bonn Agreement, Dec. 2001; I joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs- MoFA. After one year service and by passing examination with good marks, I was sent to Germany for my further diplomatic training, in 2003.
I obtained my Master degree, in the field of International Relations, from Geneva School of Diplomacy, Geneva Switzerland and have worked in most of the International Organizations based in Geneva, as diplomat in the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to UN and Other International Organizations and Embassy to Switzerland.
I like my profession, where I am involved in multilateral diplomacy, UN and other International Organizations and have represented my country in many international arenas, in different countries of the world.


If you hadn’t followed this career, what other profession could you see yourself in and why?

I would have been a lawyer and advocate for promotion and protection of human rights as it includesmy desire to serve the human beings.


How do you think our alumni network could serve your purposes better?

Today, we are living in a global village; therefore, network of alumni can be instrumental for linkage of the professional people from all over the world, including, multi-cultures, multi-ethnics, and multi-linguistics and so on. Further as diplomatic community is working in the same circle, the alumni will help in understanding each other like a family or a group of similar mind people, thus this relation will further pave the way for developing better personal and official relations, person to person and state to state or organization to organizations.


How would you be willing to participate in our network?

I will see the agenda, and will find my place or role to play. The Alumni can make its publications where most of Alumni can take part and contribute to it. Exchange of ideas or by sharing experiences of each others, as individuals as well as best practices of States in different fields of life. We together can look into the challenges today the human beings are facing globally, particularly, the issues that makes us united, such as: environment, climate change, health, HIV/AIDS, Polio, Cancer etc, poverty, security both physical and psychological or human security, combating narcotics, and so on.