Press Release
Annual Advisory Board Meeting- Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East & Africa (CAMEA)
March 11, 2022
The Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East & Africa (CMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) held its annual Advisory Board meeting on March 11, 2022. Participants joined the meeting both physically and virtually.
Those present on the occasion included: Senator Seher Kamran, Patron in Chief, Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies (CPGS); Director General ISSI, Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry; Ambassador Abrar Hussain; Ambassador Naela Chohan ; Ambassador Asif Durrani; Ambassador Riffat Masood; Dr. Zahid Ahmed, Deakin University Australia; Dr. Salma Malik, QAU; Dr. Qandeel Abbas, QAU; Dr Waqas Sajjad, UMT; Dr. Christian Wagner, (SWP) Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik; Dr Daud Abdullah, Director Middle East Monitor (UK); Mr Tamim Asey, Founder and Chairman at IWPS and CFRA Afghanistan and Brig. Mehboob Qadir.
In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Director General, ISSI, apprised the board of the workings of the five centers of excellence at the ISSI that have contributed towards the aim of producing quality work, achieving synergy, focusing on the relevance of issue areas and narrative building. He said that ISSI has had 190 events throughout the year 2021 and has extended outreach to 43 think tanks internationally. The theme that ISSI is following for the year 2022 is “National Security – Expanding Horizons.
While giving the Performance Review of CAMEA, Ms Amina Khan, Director CAMEA, briefed the advisory board about the vision and functions of the Centre. The vision of CAMEA aims to promote and provide quality research, analysis, policy input and dialogue on issues related to Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. It envisions synergy of inquiry and cooperation as well as building close cooperative relations with these important regions in line with Pakistan’s foreign policy.
She apprised the advisory board of the major events CAMEA had organized in 2021 as well as the Centre’s research activities. These included conferences, seminars, in-house meetings, webinars and roundtables. CAMEA research activities included issues briefs, research papers, op-eds and confidential briefs.
Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry moderated the meeting where all the participants gave valuable insights on how the Centre should function and different ways in which CAMEA’s workings could be further improved.
