Noorullah Delawari, an Afghani American who is founder and CEO of the Afghan Investment Support Agency, as well as Minister Adviser to President Karzai, says his long connection with Initiatives of Change helped him to take responsibility for his country—including the enormous task of restoring stability to the currency. He told his story to an Initiatives of Change meeting in McLean, Virginia, in October.

Noor was born to a well respected family in Afghanistan, and his father served as the Deputy Minster of Royal Court during King Zahir Shah. He encountered Moral Re-Armament (Initiatives of Change) while studying Economics and Finance in England in the late sixties. When he first went to the IofC center on Berkeley Square in London with some of his leftist friends, he was suspicious of what he was getting into, but his doubts were quickly dispelled by the genuineness, sense of purpose, and commitment of those he met there. One of them, George Williams, became a close friend, and when Noor asked him if he might help him find a place to celebrate his marriage to his wife, Setara, George arranged a reception in an IofC home in central London. Setara was the daughter of an Afghan man who had migrated to the U.S. in the early twenties and married an Italian American. She and Noor had met when she was working in Kabul.

While in Europe, Noor participated briefly in an IofC musical revue, whose diverse cast of young Europeans—many of them students like Noor—drew upon the rich history and values of the continent, and of those who had come to Europe from other parts of the world, to proclaim what the region had to say to the world, apart from the images of self-absorption and self-indulgence so often projected.

After completing his studies, Noor and Setara moved to southern California in early 1970, where he rose to become a vice president and regional manager for Lloyd’s Bank. Their three daughters grew up to be beautiful and gifted young women. One of them, Ariana, has just released her first album, “Lion of Panjhir”, which combines western and Afghani themes and music and which was taped in both countries as her plea for the preservation of the soul of her country.

When the Soviets invaded in 1979 in support of the Marxist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Noor quickly became involved in the democratic resistance, making repeated trips to Washington to lobby for the cause. His fight for a free and democratic Afghanistan continued through the years of Mujahidine control (1989 – 1996) and then Taliban rule (1996 – 2001). When the Taliban were driven out at the end of 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York, Noor and Setara decided to sell their home in California, cash in their IRAs and 401Ks and go to Kabul, with the plan of starting a private bank.

But he was quickly recruited to help get the new government on a sound footing by taking charge of the exchange of the vastly inflated old currency for a more solidly based new one—a huge undertaking. When that job was completed, Noor was named Governor of the Central Bank and served in that capacity for a three-year term.

Noor says that Setara has sometimes remarked that he is more married to Afghanistan than to her, but he attributes his sense of responsibility for his nation and its future on his IofC training! Under his governance, the Central Bank was recognized as one of the few well run government entities. Noor, known as a man of integrity and honesty, says that these character traits, which he values, stem from his upbringing, which was reinforced through his contact with IofC.

As the security situation in Afghanistan worsens and the Taliban resurgence becomes more evident, Noor and Setara wonder what the future will bring.

In spite of the challenges, Noor remains committed to stay and give his best to Afghanistan, in hopes that the country, with the help of the international community will be able to return to peace.