Rebuilding Afghanistan has been no small feat for President Ashraf Ghani. His innovative political career started when he returned to Afghanistan in 2002 from the United States after leaving his job at the World Bank. Upon returning in 2002, he served as finance minister after the collapse of the Taliban Government and proved essential in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Ghani took many steps to rebuild Afghanistan between the end of his term as finance minister and the beginning of his presidency in 2014.

He is the co-founder of the Institute for State Effectiveness, a program that addresses the challenge of accountability and governance through refining governments, markets and people. This program greatly improved many countries. The Afghanistan Project was also created, which supported security, governance, economic and civic transitions.

More recently, in his role as president, Ghani instated a new Anti-Corruption Council. As corruption has been identified as one of the greatest threats to efforts to rebuild countries, the new council will make a great difference in the development of Afghanistan.

Ghani has also been a vocal critic of the way international aid money was being wasted in Afghanistan before he became president. This is one of the many problems he sought to fix when he finally became president in 2014 after running and losing in 2009.

Additionally, in 2006 Ghani gave a Ted talk titled “How to Rebuild a Broken State.” The talk was on his theories regarding the necessary steps to rebuild suffering and broken countries; and showcased his extensive knowledge on governments and what it would take to rebuild a country.

Broken and struggling countries who desire to successfully rebuild themselves need leaders like Ghani. Ghani’s expertise and programs have also helped countries internationally. These implemented programs specifically geared toward rebuilding Afghanistan can serve as an example for other leaders in their quest to rebuild their own countries.

– Julia Arredondo
Photo: Flickr