Timor Sharan

Dr. Timor Sharan is the co-Founder and Programme Director of the HAMRAH Initiative that supports Afghan civil society organisations in exile. Originally from Afghanistan, Dr. Sharan has lived in exile since the fall of the Afghan Republic in 2021. He has over 15 years of experience in international development, with background in programme management, policy analysis, joint advocacy, and applied research. 

In 2020, he founded the Afghanistan Policy Lab—the country’s first policy hub dedicated to experimental research, policy modelling, and behavioural insights. From 2017 to 2019, he served as Deputy Director-General for Policy and Programmes at the Independent Directorate of Governance under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Dr. Sharan is currently a Senior Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute and a Senior Policy Analyst at the Centre on Armed Groups. His previous roles include Visiting Fellow at the Global Security Programme at the University of Oxford, Senior Analyst for Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group, and Adjunct Professor at the American University of Afghanistan. 

He holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Exeter and an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge. He is the author of ”Inside Afghanistan: Political Networks, Informal Order, and State Disruption.”