Abdiweli Garad is a PhD Candidate at Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS) dept, University of Birmingham, UK. Before the current PhD research, he studied postgraduate in International Security and Global Governance at Birkbeck College, University of London and undergraduate in Computer Systems at the University of Northampton. Between Birkbeck and Birmingham, he spent two years as a Research Officer, Rapporteur and a member of a technical team for the New Deal’s High-Level Task Force in Somalia. The New Deal sets out aid architecture for the conflict-affected country and to lobby the international community to change the way aid is designed and delivered. And, one and a half year as the National Security Advisor (NSA) serving to lead coordination roles for the security sector, works, in close collaboration, with the relevant Ministries on behalf of the Prime Minister. The Advisor represents the Prime Minister’s Office in the Peace-building and State-building Goals (PSG2 alias Security Goal) Working Group (WG) who is responsible for facilitating national-level policy formulation; planning programmatic coordination to advance the strategic objective and priorities outlined under security sector priorities in the New Deal and Somali Compact.
Before these, Mr Garad worked for Somali National Army: entered military service - after completing military academy in October 1980 - as a 2nd Lieutenant Officer and promoted, in reverse chronological order, within the standard procedure for SNA up to the Lieutenant Colonel: served as a platoon, company and battalion commander. He was entrusted to be chief of operations of the Ministry of Defense’s Command and Control Centre (MODCCC).