Waqif Shah Shenwari

Delegate for Delaware
Refugee from Afghanistan

Waqif Shenwari is the Refugee Congress Delegate for Delaware. He was born in Afghanistan and arrived in the United States in September 2021. When Waqif was three years old, his family moved to Pakistan due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan while his family was facing difficulty in finding jobs. As an adult, Waqif moved back to Kabul Afghanistan in 2003 to find better employment and educational opportunities for his growing family.

As a refugee at Quantico VA from Afghanistan, Waqif immediately volunteered to assist other evacuees as an interpreter and to provide cultural adjustment training. In addition, he acted as a liaison between evacuees and Quantico Marine military base personnel. For his efforts, he was honored with a Certificate of Appreciation Award from the United States Marine Corps. He has continued his volunteer efforts in Delaware working as an interpreter, teaching the English language, and distributing donated home furnishings and clothing to all Delaware refugee families. Using his knowledge of several languages, Waqif pursued training and certification as a professional interpreter, and once granted employment authorization, began work as a professional interpreter for two law firms to help additional Afghan asylum seekers receive the best support.

Prior to coming to the United States, Waqif was pursuing a master’s degree in business administration at Duniya University in Kabul. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. His employment experience in the Afghan commercial, government, and public sectors are wide-ranging: Computer programming, information technology, sales and marketing, leadership and management consulting, and commercial law development programming. Other activities and services include representing Afghanistan at the 15th Tax Conference in Tokyo Japan and acting as a dispute resolution advisor to the Leadership of, the Independent Commission for dispute resolution & People Government Relations - National Security Council.

“My lived experience makes me a strong advocate for refugees throughout the world. Having experienced refugee life as a kid and an adult, I’m familiar with the many difficult issues faced by refugee families in their home countries and the myriad challenges navigating in their host countries. Using my vast experience in diverse fields, I wish to catalyze positive changes in easing the accessibility and structuring of programs for cultural adjustment, language education, career exploration, home settlement, finding same-ethnic communities, and more. I will strive to use my advocacy for make it as much welcoming experience for new families to make homes for themselves.”