President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon has appointed Anvar Safarzoda as Aide to the President for Social Development and Public Relations. The corresponding decree was signed on January 27, according to the president’s press service.
Prior to the appointment, Safarzoda served as Head of the Department of Education, Culture and Information of President’s Executive Office, a position he had held since 2022.
In his new role, Anvar Safarzoda replaces Abdullo Rahmonzoda, who was previously relieved of his duties as presidential aide and appointed Deputy Chairman of Khatlon Province in charge of ideology. It has not yet been announced who will take over Safarzoda’s former position.
The Aide to the President for Social Development and Public Relations is responsible for shaping and coordinating social and cultural policy, strengthening interaction between state institutions and society, overseeing the implementation of social programs, working with the media and public organizations, and supervising ideological matters.
Biography
Anvar Safarzoda is 41 years old and hails from Farkhor District of Khatlon Province. He graduated with honors from the Faculty of Law of the Tajik National University in 2007 and holds a Doctorate in Law.
In 2011, he defended his PhD thesis in Moscow on criminal liability for the legalization (laundering) of illicitly obtained income, and in 2019, in Dushanbe, he defended his doctoral thesis on the criminal-law protection of entrepreneurial activity in the Republic of Tajikistan.
Safarzoda began his professional career in 2007 as an assistant lecturer at the Department of Criminal Law of the Tajik National University. From 2015 to 2021, he headed the Department of Criminal Law and Anti-Corruption, where he taught courses in criminal law, penal law, and specialized subjects on criminal policy and combating economic crime and corruption.
In November 2021, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Department of Education, Culture and Information of the President’s Executive Office. In 2022, he became head of the department and held the post until January 27, 2025.
Safarzoda also participated in working groups drafting the Penal Enforcement Code and the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Combating Corruption.” In 2016, he was awarded the Ismoili Somoni State Prize for Young Scientists in the Humanities.
He is married and with four children.
In Tajikistan, the apparatus of presidential state advisors was reorganized into the apparatus of presidential aides. These officials, formerly known as state advisors, now operate as assistants to the president, managing key policy areas including security, economic, and social issues within the President’s Executive Office.
