Contact: 
Allison Sturma 
202-429-4725 (o) 
202-415-4935 (m)

On Friday, March 20 from 2:00pm-3:00pm, USIP will host a press call to discuss Ashraf Ghani's first visit to Washington since becoming president of Afghanistan. The Institute's Nancy Lindborg , Andrew Wilder, and Ali Jalali will discuss the future of the U.S.-Afghanistan relationship and key themes of the visit.

Lindborg, president of USIP, and Wilder, vice president for South and Central Asia at USIP, have just returned from the region. While in Kabul, they met with a wide range of senior officials and civil society leaders. Jalali, USIP senior expert, served as Interior Minister of Afghanistan from 2003-2005 and currently serves as a senior expert at the Institute.

While in D.C. from March 22-26, President Ghani will address a joint session of Congress, attend a strategy session at Camp David, meet with President Obama, and speak at USIP on March 25 from 5:00pm-6:00pm.

To register and receive call instructions, contact Allison Sturma at asturma@usip.org or 202-429-4725.

Prior to joining USIP, Nancy Lindborg served as the assistant administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at USAID. Lindborg has spent most of her career working on issues of transition, democracy and civil society, conflict and humanitarian response. Prior to joining USAID, she was president of Mercy Corps, where she spent 14 years helping to grow the organization into a globally respected organization known for innovative programs in the most challenging environments.
 
Ali A. Jalali previously served as the Interior Minister of Afghanistan from January 2003 to October 2005. He has also served as both a distinguished professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) and as a researcher at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at National Defense University. Prior to assuming the ministerial post in Kabul, Jalali served as Voice of America's Director of Afghanistan National Radio Network Initiative and Chief of the Pashto and Persian Services at the VOA in Washington D.C.

Andrew Wilder joined USIP in August 2010 as the director of Afghanistan and Pakistan Programs. Prior to joining the Institute, he served as research director for politics and policy at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University. Previously, Wilder served as founder and director of the Kabul-based Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. This was preceded by more than 10 years managing humanitarian and development programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including with Save the Children, International Rescue Committee, and Mercy Corps.

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The United States Institute of Peace is a Congressionally-created, independent, nonpartisan institution. Its mission is to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflicts around the world by engaging directly in conflict zones and by providing analysis, education, and resources to those working for peace.