Meet Our Team

He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Herat University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Asia University. His academic background in management and economics provides a strong foundation for organizational leadership, financial decision-making, resource management, and strategic development.

As Executive Director of Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO), Abdullah provides overall strategic and operational leadership for the organization. He oversees humanitarian and development programmes, guides programme planning and implementation, supports resource mobilization and partnership development, and helps ensure that SUAO’s activities are delivered in line with organizational policies, donor requirements, humanitarian principles, and the needs of affected communities.

His professional strengths include leading multi-sector projects, managing budgets and resources, coordinating with donors and implementing partners, supervising technical and field teams, monitoring programme performance, reviewing financial and narrative reports, supporting proposal development, and representing the organization in coordination meetings and stakeholder forums. His experience also includes direct involvement in beneficiary targeting, verification, assistance delivery, safeguarding, accountability, and community engagement.

Before taking on his senior leadership role at SUAO, Abdullah gained experience across humanitarian, academic, financial, and operational environments. He served as a Team Leader in an emergency project with Jame Ghor Charity Organization, where he coordinated rapid needs assessments, beneficiary selection, field implementation, local stakeholder engagement, and project reporting. He later worked as a Finance Assistant on an emergency project with DAI, supporting budget monitoring, cash payments, financial records, reconciliation, and donor financial compliance.

His experience also includes serving as a University Lecturer at Asia University, where he taught business and management subjects, supervised student research, contributed to curriculum development, and provided academic guidance. In addition, he represented Asia University in coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education, supporting regulatory compliance, institutional communication, accreditation-related processes, and policy implementation.

Earlier in his career, Abdullah worked as a Production Manager and as a Radio Site Reporter, roles that strengthened his abilities in operational management, staff supervision, communication, public engagement, information verification, and working effectively under demanding conditions.

As Executive Director, Abdullah combines strategic leadership with practical field understanding. He is particularly focused on strengthening SUAO’s institutional capacity, programme quality, financial accountability, donor compliance, partnerships, and locally led humanitarian action. His ability to connect organizational strategy with field-level realities supports SUAO in designing and delivering programmes that are accountable, responsive, inclusive, and sustainable.

His professional profile reflects strong capabilities in project management, humanitarian response, financial management, team leadership, donor reporting, monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder coordination, strategic planning, and communication. He works in Pashto, Persian/Dari, and English, enabling him to engage effectively with communities, national stakeholders, international partners, and donors.

His career includes extensive work with international and national organizations, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), UNAMA, KBR, the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), and Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO).

As Field & Programme Manager at Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization, Farid provides senior-level oversight of programme implementation and field operations. He contributes to programme planning, operational coordination, field-team management, implementation quality, stakeholder engagement, monitoring, and the effective delivery of humanitarian and development interventions across SUAO’s areas of operation. His extensive field experience enables him to connect strategic programme objectives with the practical realities faced by communities and field teams.

A major strength of Farid’s professional profile is his substantial experience in large-scale emergency programming. From 2022 to 2025, he served as Emergency Program Manager with CRS Afghanistan, where he led 14 successful cash and in-kind emergency responses across four provinces, with a combined value of approximately USD 10 million. These interventions were supported by a diverse group of institutional and private donors, including UNOCHA Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF), USAID-BHA, USAID-ODGR, FCDO, UNICEF, CAFOD, SCIAF, LDSC, and the W. O’Neil Foundation.

This experience has given him strong capabilities in humanitarian programme leadership, cash-based assistance, emergency response planning, donor-funded programme management, operational decision-making, coordination, and delivery under challenging field conditions. His background working across multiple donor frameworks also provides him with valuable experience in meeting institutional requirements while maintaining a strong focus on timely and accountable assistance to crisis-affected communities.

Before moving into emergency programme leadership, Farid spent more than a decade working as a Senior Project Officer for Livelihoods, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and Natural Resource Management (NRM). In this capacity, he was responsible for planning, designing, implementing, and supervising community-based livelihood and resilience programmes, supporting disaster preparedness, mitigation and response, and promoting sustainable management and conservation of natural resources.

His earlier professional experience also provided a strong foundation in administration, logistics, financial documentation, communications, reporting, and field mission management. As a Translator/Administrator with CRS, he supported logistical coordination, office management, payment processing, programme documentation, staff timesheets, and field missions. He also supported WASH-related projects through the Provincial Reconstruction Team, including project documentation and payment tracking.

Farid has complemented his extensive field experience with a range of international professional development opportunities. He participated in Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) training with CRS in Cairo, Egypt, Contemporary Management Practice training in Dubai, a ProPack I project design workshop in Pakistan, a seed-storage learning workshop in Burundi, and exposure visits focused on natural resource management and agricultural programming in India.

These experiences have strengthened his capabilities in programme design, project-cycle management, community resilience, livelihoods, emergency response, organizational management, leadership, negotiation, and cross-cultural collaboration. His professional profile particularly reflects strong skills in management, leadership, critical thinking, negotiation, and operational problem-solving.

At SUAO, Farid brings together senior programme-management experience and deep field-level understanding. His ability to lead complex humanitarian operations, manage multidisciplinary teams, coordinate multiple stakeholders, oversee substantial donor-funded interventions, and translate programme strategies into practical field delivery makes him a key member of SUAO’s management team. He plays an important role in strengthening the organization’s capacity to deliver timely, accountable, community-centred, and high-quality humanitarian and development programmes.

Farid works in Dari, Pashto, and English, supporting effective engagement with communities, government counterparts, humanitarian actors, donors, and international partners.

As Vice Chairman of Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO), Ajab Gul contributes to the organization’s governance, strategic direction, operational oversight, and institutional development. His experience in programme implementation and management enables him to support SUAO in maintaining strong internal systems, effective field coordination, accountability, and compliance with organizational and donor requirements.

He has held senior operational responsibilities within SUAO, including serving as Deputy Director, where he provided strategic and operational leadership for multi-sector humanitarian and development projects, donor coordination, MEAL oversight, and field operations across multiple provinces. His responsibilities included supporting project implementation, managing teams, coordinating stakeholders, overseeing monitoring and reporting processes, and ensuring timely delivery in line with organizational and donor standards.

Before this, Ajab Gul served as Provincial Manager with Jameghor Charity Organization (JCO) in Ghor, where he was responsible for provincial project implementation, field operations, team management, stakeholder coordination, MEAL oversight, and programme reporting. This experience strengthened his capacity to manage decentralized operations and maintain effective coordination between field teams, management, communities, and institutional stakeholders.

Ajab Gul also brings substantial experience from the Ghor Education Department, where he worked for several years in financial and administrative roles. As a System Officer and BPET System Focal Point, he managed online financial systems, salary entitlement processing, budget tracking, expenditure reporting, and financial data management. Earlier, as a Salary Payment Officer, he supported salary processing, financial reporting, procurement, and administrative planning within the education sector.

His academic background includes a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Ghor University, a Diploma in Business Administration from Maharat Institute, and a Teacher Training Diploma. This combination of education and professional experience has strengthened his skills in communication, administration, organizational management, and leadership.

Ajab Gul’s key strengths include project and operations management, team leadership, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL), beneficiary targeting, field coordination, financial administration, reporting, stakeholder engagement, and organizational support. He is also experienced in translating organizational plans into practical field-level implementation while maintaining accountability and documentation standards.

Through his role as Vice Chairman, Ajab Gul supports SUAO’s commitment to delivering accountable, well-managed, community-centred, and high-quality humanitarian and development programmes. His combination of institutional experience, operational knowledge, and field-level understanding makes him an important member of SUAO’s senior leadership.

He speaks English, Persian/Dari, and Pashto, enabling him to communicate effectively with communities, staff, government institutions, partners, and other stakeholders.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Guilan International University and a Bachelor’s degree in Law and Political Science, with a specialization in Administration and Diplomacy, from Asia Institute of Higher Education.

Before joining Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization, Somaya worked in humanitarian and academic roles with organizations and institutions including UN-Habitat, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the World Food Programme (WFP), CRDSA, and Asia University. Her experience includes community mobilization, household assessments, beneficiary identification and verification, food assistance, HLP-related activities, and digital data collection using KOBO.

She has previously served as a Community Mobilizer with NRC, Surveyor with UN-Habitat, Scoper in NRC’s HLP programme, Help Desk staff with WFP, and Food Distributor with CRDSA. Through these roles, she developed strong practical experience in engaging community elders and local structures, conducting field surveys, identifying vulnerable households, supporting humanitarian distributions, maintaining beneficiary records, and communicating field-level needs and challenges.

Somaya also brings experience from the higher-education sector, where she held management and administrative responsibilities at Asia Institute of Higher Education and Asia University, contributing to academic coordination, institutional administration, planning, and engagement with students and faculty members.

In her role as Community Engagement & Outreach Officer at SUAO, Somaya supports meaningful participation and communication between the organization and the communities it serves. She contributes to community consultations, outreach to target groups, beneficiary engagement, coordination with community representatives and local stakeholders, field-level data collection, and the gathering of feedback to support responsive and inclusive programme implementation.

Her combination of humanitarian field experience, communication skills, and academic background enables her to support community-centred, participatory, and accountable humanitarian and development programming. She is fluent in Dari/Persian, Pashto, and English, allowing her to engage effectively with diverse communities and stakeholders.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Asia University, which has provided her with a solid foundation in administration, organizational processes, financial understanding, and professional communication. Her technical and professional strengths include administrative management, financial record handling, data management, documentation and filing, Microsoft Office, communication, teamwork, coordination, and problem-solving.

Before joining Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization, Somaia worked as a Customer Service Representative at Maiwand Bank and previously at Islamic Bank in Herat, where she was responsible for customer support, account services, document verification, KYC procedures, maintaining accurate records, and ensuring compliance with institutional policies. These roles strengthened her experience in confidential information handling, client communication, procedural compliance, and service delivery.

She also served as Student Affairs Manager at Asia University, where she supported student affairs operations, maintained records and academic documentation, coordinated registration and administrative processes, monitored attendance records, supported recruitment and HR-related activities, and prepared reports for university management. In addition, her earlier internship experience with GVC Italia and Shahkar Group Co. further strengthened her skills in office administration, filing systems, reporting, record management, and general organizational support.

In her role as PSEA & Gender Officer at Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO), Somaia supports the organization’s commitment to protection, safeguarding, dignity, inclusion, and accountability. She contributes to promoting gender-sensitive and respectful practices within programmes and the workplace, supports awareness and compliance related to Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), and helps strengthen safe, confidential, and inclusive engagement with staff, communities, and stakeholders.

Her professional background makes her particularly well suited to this role, combining strong communication skills, administrative discipline, confidentiality, documentation capacity, and a people-centred approach. Fluent in English, Persian/Dari, and Pashto, Somaia is able to engage effectively with diverse colleagues, partners, and communities, supporting SUAO’s efforts to deliver ethical, accountable, and inclusive humanitarian and development programming.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Literature from Herat University and has also completed training in QuickBooks Desktop, strengthening his practical capacity in financial record keeping and accounting-related processes. His professional skills include financial management, budgeting and reporting, procurement support, administrative management, documentation and filing, Microsoft Office, data management, and communication.

Before joining Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization, Hayatullah worked in a number of administrative and financial roles. He served as Administrative Assistant with the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA), where he supported office administration, official documentation, procurement, inventory, logistics, filing systems, and communication with internal and external stakeholders. He later worked as Biometric Staff with the Ministry of Interior Affairs, supporting accurate data collection, registration, database updates, confidentiality, and reporting.

He also worked as Finance Staff at Herat Regional Hospital under the Ministry of Public Health, where his responsibilities included processing financial transactions and payment documentation, preparing financial records and expenditure reports, monitoring budget utilization, maintaining financial files, supporting compliance with internal controls, and contributing to financial audits and reporting processes.

At Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO), Hayatullah serves as Financial Manager, where he supports the organization’s financial management, budgeting, reporting, documentation, and financial oversight. His role contributes to ensuring that project resources are managed accurately, transparently, and in accordance with organizational procedures and donor requirements.

With experience across financial, administrative, and data-related functions, Hayatullah brings a structured and detail-oriented approach to his work. His experience in both government institutions and humanitarian settings supports SUAO’s efforts to maintain strong financial accountability, reliable documentation, and effective project implementation.

He speaks Pashto, Persian/Dari, and English, enabling him to work effectively with colleagues, partners, and stakeholders in diverse professional environments.

As a Co-Founder and Senior Manager of Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO), Hazinyar contributes extensive leadership experience, field knowledge, and a strong understanding of Afghanistan’s social and community dynamics. He supports the organization’s strategic development, programme quality, community engagement, stakeholder coordination, and conflict-sensitive approaches across humanitarian and development initiatives.

Throughout his career, Hazinyar has held senior technical and programme roles with organizations including WASSA, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Jame Ghor Charity Organization, International Assistance Mission (IAM), and World Relief International. His experience includes serving as a Peace Consultant, Advocacy Officer, Community Engagement Officer, Community Safety Officer and Trainer, Conflict Resolution Manager and Peace Trainer, Community Dialogue Officer, and Community Development and Health Education Officer.

A significant focus of his work has been strengthening peaceful coexistence, reconciliation, social cohesion, community participation, and locally led conflict resolution. He has facilitated community dialogue and mediation processes, conducted conflict and community-safety assessments, supported reconciliation initiatives, delivered peacebuilding and conflict-management training, and strengthened community-based structures. His work with DRC also included mobilizing internally displaced people and host communities and delivering conflict-management and peacebuilding training.

Hazinyar holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education (Pedagogy) from Moscow University of Education and has completed extensive professional training in areas including Project Cycle Management, Logical Framework Approach, conflict transformation and mediation, peacebuilding, advocacy and policy development, human-resource management, civil-society law, training of trainers, community development, and leadership.

His professional strengths include peacebuilding and conflict resolution, conflict analysis and mediation, community engagement and mobilization, advocacy and policy dialogue, social cohesion and reconciliation, training and capacity building, stakeholder coordination, humanitarian programme support, project-cycle management, leadership, and reporting. He works in Persian/Dari, Pashto, and English.

At SUAO, his long-standing experience and institutional leadership help strengthen the organization’s ability to deliver inclusive, community-centred, accountable, and conflict-sensitive humanitarian and development programmes.

Hamidullah is the Founder of Jameghor Charity Organization (JCO) and served as its Chairman and Executive Director from 2014 to 2024. Under his leadership, the organization developed its humanitarian and community-development work and established relationships with communities, authorities, civil-society actors, and international partners. JCO subsequently evolved into what is today Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO). As a founding figure in the organization’s development, Hamidullah brings important institutional knowledge, continuity, and experience to SUAO.

He has extensive professional experience with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Afghanistan, where he progressed from monitoring and evaluation roles to Senior Project Officer for livelihoods programming. In this senior position, he managed both direct and indirect staff, supervised multidisciplinary teams including engineers and field personnel, supported WASH construction activities, managed cash-for-food and agricultural input distributions, monitored community training, addressed implementation challenges, and supported procurement and project documentation. His work included assistance and activities reaching more than 100 communities in Ghor.

A major area of Hamidullah’s expertise is MEAL and evidence-based programme management. During his years with CRS, he worked on qualitative and quantitative data analysis, donor and programme reporting, field monitoring, survey design, focus group discussions, interviews, feedback mechanisms, database management, and capacity building of programme staff. He contributed to designing MEAL systems and tools and has practical experience with platforms and technologies including iFormBuilder, CommCare, Power BI, GIS mapping, Excel databases, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

His background also includes significant experience in communications, outreach, governance, and public engagement. As Communication and Outreach Officer under the USAID-supported SIKA-West programme, he worked with district authorities, government departments, youth councils, women, farmers, students, and communities; developed communication plans; organized public events, Shuras, town-hall meetings and media activities; and supported dialogue around peace, stability, coordination, and cooperation with local government.

Earlier in his career, Hamidullah served as Spokesman for the Governor of Paktika Province and held several journalism and media-management positions. These roles strengthened his capabilities in strategic communication, public representation, media relations, reporting, information management, community engagement, and communication with government institutions and the wider public.

Hamidullah has also invested extensively in professional development. His training includes proposal writing, project management and planning, monitoring and evaluation, safeguarding, communication and outreach, ICT4D, iFormBuilder, management, and advanced journalism. He holds a degree from the Faculty of Journalism at Sheikh Zayed University in Khost.

As Senior Advisor at Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization, Hamidullah draws on his extensive institutional, programme, MEAL, community-engagement, and leadership experience to provide senior-level guidance that supports SUAO’s strategic development, programme quality, accountability, organizational capacity, and long-term sustainability. His combination of founding leadership and practical humanitarian expertise provides SUAO with valuable institutional continuity and a strong understanding of both community-level realities and the requirements of professional humanitarian programming.

Now based in the United States, Hamidullah remains connected to SUAO and contributes his experience and institutional knowledge to the organization. He is fluent in Pashto and Dari and has excellent English-language skills, enabling him to engage effectively across local, national, and international environments.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering – Software from Balkh University. His technical profile includes strong proficiency in HTML and CSS, web development, computer and software fundamentals, problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and time management.

Rafiullah has also completed Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) training through X-pert International Training & Testing Center in Mazar-e-Sharif, strengthening his knowledge of networking fundamentals and IT infrastructure. His certificate of completion is dated 30 November 2025.

In his role as Manager of the IT Section at Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO), Rafiullah contributes to the organization’s digital and technical operations, including support for IT systems, web-related activities, networking, and day-to-day technology needs. His role supports SUAO’s efforts to maintain effective, reliable, and practical digital systems for its humanitarian and development work.

Rafiullah combines technical knowledge with a strong willingness to learn and develop professionally. He is particularly interested in applying software engineering and networking skills to improve organizational efficiency and support the effective use of technology. His CV also highlights strong communication skills and fluency in Dari and English.

He holds a Diploma in Nursing from Atefi Medical Institute, completed through a three-year programme from 2021 to 2023. His professional skills include nursing care, emergency response, patient care, vaccination services, pharmacy management, data management, medical documentation, Microsoft Office, communication, and teamwork.

Before and alongside his work in humanitarian data management, Esmatullah gained practical healthcare experience as a Vaccinator at Taiwara District Hospital, Medical Nurse at Afghan Arya Hospital, Emergency Nurse at Taiwara District Hospital, and Pharmacist at Adalat Shafa Clinic. Through these roles, he developed experience in patient care, emergency procedures, vaccination, medication management, health records, and maintaining accurate documentation.

At Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO), Esmatullah serves as Data Management Officer, where he supports the collection, verification, organization, and maintenance of project and beneficiary data. His responsibilities include maintaining project databases, supporting data-quality checks and analysis, ensuring accurate documentation, protecting the confidentiality of project information, and coordinating with field teams to improve data accuracy and reporting.

His combination of healthcare experience and data-management skills enables him to contribute effectively to evidence-based, accountable, and well-documented humanitarian programming. He brings a careful and detail-oriented approach to information management and supports SUAO in maintaining reliable data for programme implementation, monitoring, and reporting.

Esmatullah speaks Pashto, Persian/Dari, and English, supporting effective communication with colleagues, communities, and stakeholders in diverse operational settings.