Raza Ahmad Rumi
Raza Ahmad Rumi is a policy analyst, journalist and an author from Pakistan. In recent years, he has been a leading voice in Pakistan's public arena against extremism and human rights violations. He has been affiliated with The Friday Times, Pakistan's foremost liberal weekly paper as a writer and an editor for a decade. Raza is also a commentator for several publications which include Foreign Policy, Huffington Post, New York Times, The Diplomat, Fair Observer, CNN and Al Jazeera, Daily O, Scroll India, The Hindu and Indian Express, The News, DAWN and Express Tribune, Pakistan.
In Pakistan, he also worked in the broadcast media as an analyst and hosted talk shows at Capital TV and Express News. Raza also manages a blog Pak Tea House, which is a platform for young writers and activists. In recent years, he was also a Director at Jinnah Institute, a public policy think tank and Executive Director of Justice Network- a coalition of NGOs. His writings are archived at www.razarumi.com. His recent book 'Delhi by Heart: Impressions of a Pakistani Traveler' was published by Harper Collins (2013).
Prior to his foray into journalism and public affairs, Raza worked at the Asian Development Bank as a Governance Specialist. His areas of focus included decentralization, access to justice, institutional development and led projects in several South and Southeast Asian countries. At ADB, he also edited two publications on public administration and participatory budget making. Later, as an international development professional, Raza has also worked on designing and implementing projects for UK’s Department For International Development, UNDP, UNICEF World Bank, among others. Until recently, Raza also led the Network for Asia Pacific Schools & Institutes of Public Administration and Governance. His academic papers have covered areas such as federalism, public policy choices, access to justice, citizen rights, etc.
Raza’s work as a public policy practitioner builds on his stint with the Government of Pakistan’s Administrative Service and United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo where he acted as a municipal administrator in charge of local governance. In 1994, he entered the Pakistani civil service after topping the countrywide competitive examination.
His journalism related work, especially broadcast mass media, brought him under the surveillance of Islamists and their patrons in Pakistan. A militia linked to Taliban attacked Raza in March 2014. He narrowly survived the assassination attempt but his driver died. Within weeks, Raza left Pakistan and fled to the United States. Since May 2014, he has been a fellow at the New America Foundation, United States Institute of Peace and the National Endowment for Democracy. He remains a nonresident fellow at NED and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
Raza's ICORN residency in Ithaca (NY) is 2015-2017.
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