Anas Derraz

Currently, Anass is:

• Strategy & Development Executive Director at SAUR (EQT group)
• Board member at Siadah investment
• High level Advisor at GMI Summit

With over 12 years’ experience based in Paris, Middle East and North Africa in Engineering, Business Development, Management and Project Management within Energy, Industrial Utilities, Water, Waste and Nuclear sectors, Anass had progressive responsibilities and demonstrable achievements in leadership, strategy, partnerships and project finance in a multicultural environment with financial steering and legal knowledge.

He was, for several years, Executive Director for Strategy & Partnerships at Veolia (world investor-operator leader in environmental services), in charge of business development and the institutional relationships for both private and public actors in the Middle-East. His role was to build and develop business impact with regional and international top strategic partners by identifying joint financial and technical solutions, shaping complex deals, and ultimately defining and executing on the “better together” solution.

This was concluded by achieving 220 m$ additional backlog for Veolia Middle East, with major municipal and industrial players, which represented an increase of more than 12% of its Middle East turn over. He was also involved in developing a portfolio of more than 3 b$ projects value under the scheme of project finance (BOT).

In addition to his capabilities in managing entire business lines and driving global strategic orientations, he had an extensive experience in High-Stakes Engineering Projects, as Director for Development in the MENA region at CDC (France’s sovereign fund). He was heading the development of infrastructure consultancy services for the industry, energy, & defence sectors. He also held technical and project management positions in multibillion dollars nuclear projects at an earlier stage of his career.

This led him to be, in 2019, the Head of H.H Mohamed Bin Rachid Initiative for Global Prosperity and the Director for Initiatives at GMI Summit, being member of the executive committee, where he was in charge of helping steer GMI Summit towards new strategic objectives : a more inclusive, wider, innovative, and Industry-centred global set of initiatives.

From academic perspective, he have also been co-lecturer at University Paris ASSAS (for circular economy and PPP projects) given his intellectual and academic background.

He is a civil engineer graduated of the prestigious Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and an alumni of Paris Dauphine University. In parallel, he have co-authored in 2013 a book on “Diagnostics and reinforcement of existing buildings against seismic activities”.

Robert Bain

Robert has spent the last 25 years leading growing businesses in the SME sector across the world in locations ranging from Texas to Hong Kong in a diverse number of sectors from Energy to Motorsport. HE is an environmentalist, a vegan, a father of four, passionate about helping find practical solutions to the climate crisis.

Amb. Sherif Eissa

• Assistant Minister for African Affairs (2020- until now)
• Ambassdor of Egypt to South Africa (2016-2020)
• Ambassador Issa was the Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Nile Basin and International Rivers’ Affairs (2013- 2016)
• He worked before as the Consul General of Egypt in Geneva (2009-2013)
• He has a Bachelor Degree in Law from Cairo University (1987), a Diploma of International Law from The Hague (1991), and a Diploma in the Law of the Sea from Rhodes Academy (1997).
• He is a career Diplomat. He worked for the Embassies of Egypt in Madrid (counselor) 2003-2007, Muscat (1st sec.) 1997-2001, Asmara (charge d,affaires) 1997 and Warsaw (3rd sec.) 1992-1996.
• He worked also at the HQs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt in:
  • The Minister’s Cabinet (legal advices) 2006-2009
  • The Legal Affairs Division
  • The African Department.
• He represents Egypt in international forums related to Water Issues.
  • He worked on different aspects concerning over 30 international and bilateral agreements, conventions and treaties between Egypt and many states such as India, China and Russia in addition to UN Conventions in addition to others which Egypt acceded to;

معالي مريم بنت محمد سعيد حارب المهيري

تم تعيين معالي مريم بنت محمد سعيد حارب المهيري وزيرة دولة للأمن الغذائي والمائي في الحكومة الاتحادية بعد الإعلان عن التشكيل الوزاري الجديد في يوليو 2020. وتشمل مسؤوليات معاليها متابعة المخزون الغذائي الوطني، والاستثمار في تكنولوجيا الغذاء، ومتابعة العلاقات الدولية في هذا المجال. كما شغلت سابقاَ منصب وزيرة دولة مسؤولة عن ملف الأمن الغذائي في أعقاب التشكيل الوزاري في أكتوبر2017، وشملت مسؤولياتها الإشراف على تطوير بنية تحتية ولوجستية ذات جودة عالية لتعزيز الأمن الغذائي، وبما يدعم أولويات ومستهدفات “مئوية الإمارات 2071”.

تم تعيين معالي مريم المهيري لتمثيل دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة لدى منظمة الأغذية والزراعة للأمم المتحدة (الفاو) بالإضافة إلى المركز الدولي للزراعة الملحية، وهي عضو في مجلس الإدارة لهيئة أبو ظبي للزراعة والسلامة الغذائية. وعضو في مجلس الأمناء في كل من جائزة خليفة لنخيل التمر والابتكار الزراعي، ومجلس أمناء مؤسسة دبي للمستقبل، ومجلس مستقبل الابتكار في النظم الغذائية التابع لمجالس المستقبل العالمية للمنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي وعضو في مجلس جامعة الإمارات العربية المتحدة.

كما تم ترشيح معاليها لقيادة بعض المشاريع الرائدة في مجال الاستزراع السمكي في إطار مبادرات صاحب السمو الشيخ خليفة بن زايد آل نهيان رئيس دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة) حفظه الله( من خلال وزارة شؤون الرئاسة، من أجل تأسيس وتطوير هذا القطاع الاقتصادي الجديد في البلاد.

شغلت معالي مريم المهيري وظيفة وكيل الوزارة المساعد للموارد المائية والمحافظة على الطبيعة في وزارة التغير المناخي والبيئة، لتشرف على وضع مؤشرات الأداء للتنوع البيولوجي، ومصائد الأسماك، واستدامة البيئة البحرية والساحلية، وأقسام الأبحاث البحرية.

حصلت معالي مريم المهيري على درجة البكالوريوس والماجستير في الهندسة الميكانيكية من جامعة (RWTH Aachen University) في مدينة آخن بألمانيا الاتحادية.

H.E. Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri

Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri was appointed as Minister of State for Food and Water Security as part of the reformation of the UAE Cabinet announced on July 2020. Her Excellency is responsible for monitoring national food stocks, investing in food technology, and following up international relations in this area. Previously, Her Excellency was appointed as Minister of State for Food Security following the Cabinet reshuffle of October 2017. Her responsibilities included overseeing the development of the necessary infrastructure that would ensure the country’s food security objectives, in line with UAE Centennial 2071 Plan.

In addition, H.E. represents the UAE federal government in the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) as well as the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA). She is a member of the Board of Directors in the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) and also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural, the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) and the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Food Systems Innovation and is also a member of the United Arab Emirates University Council.

She has also been nominated to lead some unique projects in the field of aquaculture under the initiatives of H.H. the President of UAE, through the Ministry of Presidential Affairs to establish the foundation needed for this emerging economic sector to develop and thrive in the country.

H.E. Almheiri previously served as Assistant Undersecretary for Water Resources and Nature Conservation Affairs at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, where she was appointed to oversee the Biodiversity, Fisheries, Coastal & Marine Sustainability and Marine Research departments.

H.E. Mariam Almheiri received her bachelor and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) in Aachen, Germany

Abdoulaye Sene

Executive Secretary of the 9th World Water Forum
Abdoulaye Sene is the Executive Secretary of the 9th World Water Forum. He is a Civil Engineer (École Polytechnique Thiès, 1978), specialized in Water Science with a Master’s degree from École Polytechnique de Montréal, 1981. He was, from 2013 to 2017, Chairman of SOGEM Board of Directors, the compagny in charge of the management of hydroelectric dams of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), Senior Technical Advisor to the Minister of Mines, Energy and Water of Senegal (2001-2002), Head of Mission for the Study and Development of Fossil Valleys (1994-2000), Director of Rural Engineering and Hydraulics of Senegal (1990-1994), Director of the Maintenance and Care of Water infrastructures (1984-1990).
Abdoulaye Sène was a member of various Boards of Directors of national, sub-regional and international institutions working in the water, ruraldevelopment, environment and decentralization sectors. He has provided various national and international courses, conferences, consultations and expertise in the fields of water, rural development, decentralization, climate change and governance.

Ashwin Kumar Balvantray Pandya

Er. Ashwin B. Pandya (born in 1955), an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, he did his M.Tech in Structural Engineering (1983). Er. Pandya has over 40 years of professional experience in water resources and irrigation planning, design, implementation, and financing. He has a sound knowledge of various aspects of irrigation and drainage engineering with a strong competence of leveraging technologies in core areas, especially Information Technology. He specializes in the dam design and related activities. He has over twenty technical publications in his credit. Er. Pandya began his career with the Central Water Commission (CWC) in 1977 as Assistant Director and later served as its Chairman. In his professional career, he occupied top positions in various Government of India (GoI) offices under the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), including Director General, National Water Development Agency (NWDA) and Chairman & Managing Director, National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC). He also served as the Vice President of ICID for the period 2014-16 and made active contribution to the various activities of the Commission. An avid proponent of irrigation and hydropower projects, he has been a key figure behind the establishment of International flagship event ‘India Water Week’ for MoWR, which is presently in its fifth edition and also established the ‘National Conference on Dam Safety’, an annual event with assistance from World Bank funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP). Formerly, Chairman, Central Water Commission (an apex body under Government of India) in New Delhi, India.

Dr Alok K. Sikka

Dr Alok K. Sikka is with the International Water Management Institute, Delhi Office as IWMI Representative-India since April, 2016. Prior to joining IWMI, he served as Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Technical Expert (Watershed Development) (in the rank of Additional Secretary to Govt. of India), National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi. He was Director of ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna and Basin Coordinator for Indo-Gangetic Basin under the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food from 2002-2007. He is Ph. D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with specialization in Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering from Utah State University, Logan, Utah. Besides working with ICAR for many years at Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation, Dehradun and its Research Centres, he was with National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee; visiting Professor at University of Arizona, Tucson; and Faculty at the Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA. He has more than 250 publications and is recipient of many national awards including Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He has a rich and diverse experience of over 38 years in research, institutional and policy issues, teaching, training, extension and consultancy in the areas of natural resource management, soil & water conservation, watershed management, water harvesting, hydrologic modelling, water management, drought management, climate change, water productivity and farming systems. He has more than 250 publications in the form of research papers in the international and national Journals/Proceedings, book chapters, bulletins, reports and books to his credit. He is also recipient of many national awards and recognition.

Dr. Atsushi Tsunekawa

Dr Atsushi Tsunekawa is a Professor of Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University (Japan). He graduated from the Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Tokyo, after which he joined the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan. Currently he serves as a Professor at the Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, and also serves as a Head of Strategic Management Office of International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, Tottori University. His primary scholarly interests are developing sustainable land management (SLM) technologies and approaches to restore degraded land and improve farmers’ livelihood, and monitoring and modelling of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change using remote sensing and GIS. He is selected as a Science and Technology Correspondent from Japan to the Committee on Science and Technology of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Dr. Kaluvai Yella Reddy

Kaluvai Yella Reddy is the Dean (Faculty of Agricultural. Engineering & Technology) of ANGR Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India. He has more than 35 years of experience in teaching, research, project management and administration. He obtained B.Tech (Agril Engg) from Dr PDKV, Akola, M.Tech and Ph.D degrees from IIT, Kharagpur and PG Diploma from University of Arizona, USA. Received ‘International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage ICID WATSAVE Technology Award’ in the 20th Congress of ICID held in Lahore (2008). Elected as Vice-President of (ICID) in the 68th International Executive Committee meeting held in Mexico City in Oct 2017. Obtained ‘World Heritage Irrigation Structures (WHIS) Awards’ for 6 projects of India (2 in 2018 and 4 in 2020).

Dr WU Wenyong

WU Wenyong, Ph.D., Professor at China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing, China and Deputy Director of Irrigation and Drainage Department. From 2015 onward, he has been involved with the International Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), actively participating in all ICID meetings from 2015 until the present. He had been the member for the Working Group on Use of Poor Quality Water in 2015. Since 2020, he serves as the Chair of the Working Group on Use of Non-Conventional Water Resources for Irrigation. Dr. Wu is a nationally recognized scientist who has made significant contributions to the academic advancement and extension of reclaimed water irrigation (RWI) technologies in China. This led to him being recognized in 2016 by the National Young and Middle-Aged Leading Talent for Scientific and Technological Innovation from the Ministry of Science and Technology, China, and National Special Support Plan for Domestic High-level Talent in 2018 from Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, China.

Eng. Felix Reinders

Eng. Felix Britz Reinders, who served as the President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) for the period 2017-2020, is a professional engineer with four decades of experience in the field of Agriculture and Civil Engineering. He holds specialization in water resources management and irrigation engineering, including research, design, training and mentoring. Born in 1955, Eng. Reinders completed his Engineering studies in 1979 from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He has authored many scientific and semi-scientific papers and articles in the field of the irrigation and served on various Water Research Commission projects. Eng. Reinders is also a visiting lecturer at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, where he imparts knowledge on design and operation of Drip and Sprinkle irrigation systems.

PH Eng. Felix Reinders is currently chairing the Steering Committee of the Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG).

Eng. Nafn Amdar

Nafn’s background is water resources engineering with 13 years experience in water resources modelling including infrastructure and natural systems. She is a research officer on water accounting and water resources modelling at IWMI and a PhD researcher at IHE Delft

Adham Badawy

Adham is a research officer at IWMI working on water productivity and water governance. Prior to IWMI Adham worked at Zewail City of Science and Technology, Egypt, as an assistant teacher of hydrology and supervised several undergraduate students. He also completed an internship on the Water Conflict Chronology at the Pacific Institute, USA. Adham has a background in Water and Environmental Engineering from Cairo University. He also completed a master’s degree on water management and governance at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands.

Ayman Omer

Ayman Omer is a Senior Regional Programme Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) – the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (NENA), and the Delivery Manager for the Regional Initiative on Building Resilience for Food Security and Nutrition in NENA Region. Prior to joining FAO, Ayman served as Country Director for Oxfam International in various countries including Ethiopia, Uganda, Eritrea and Yemen. He holds a master’s in agriculture economics and a Diploma in Management and Leadership.

Ziad Khayat

Ziad Khayat is Economic Affairs Officer and Coordinator of IWRM for Improved Water Security at the Climate Change and Natural Resources Sustainability Cluster of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Mr. Khayat joined ESCWA in 2015 focusing on water related sustainable development issues within the context of a nexus approach and on transboundary water resources opportunities and challenges in the Arab region. He has also been involved in the United Nations-League of Arab States Regional Initiative for the Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources and Socio-Economic Vulnerability in the Arab Region (RICCAR) exploring climate change effects on groundwater. He leads the preparation of the Arab regional report on the implementation of IWRM, progress on SDG indicator 6.5.1. He previously worked with UNDP in Lebanon on a national groundwater assessment and with Dar Al-Handasah Consultants on various hydrogeological assessments and groundwater management issues in the Arab region. He holds degrees from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and from the American University in Beirut with a focus on hydrogeology.

Yara El Nagdy

Yara has over 8 years of experience in business development and project coordination. Her fields of expertise are Finance, Economics and closely working on projects related to Water Economics and Climate Change.

Between 2013 and 2015, Yara worked as a project officer for a World Bank project coordinated by the Arab Water Council, where she handled coordination among partner countries including assisting preparation of regional reports and coordination of regional workshops and training programs.

In 2016, she joined the Arab Water Council (AWC), where she served as a business and financial analyst for AWC Business Development Department. Currently, she is acting as Project Officer for Water Economics and Climate Change due to her several years of experience in working for international projects related to the field as well as the experience gained from several certified courses in water resources management, climate change and food security. Yara is now working on the day-to-day activities of the Business Development Unit and the technical department at AWC.

Moreover, Yara is also acting as the AWC Children and Youth Network Coordinator, managing all youth related activities as well as preparation of youth related events. Yara also represents AWC at youth platforms, coordinates, and organizes awareness seminars and workshops for university and school students.

Currently, Yara is responsible for implementing AWC’s first regional youth awareness campaign on water security in partnership with several young professionals from ministries and civil society.

Prof. Walid Abdel-Rahman

Vice President, Founding Member and Governor of Arab Water Council

• * Professor of Water Resources Management, Manager of Water Division and Water Research Program – King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Since 1980- 2008.
• * Obtained his PhD from University of Reading, England. His major teaching, research and industrial expertise are in water resources management, Urban Water management, Water, Food and Energy Security, development of National water Strategies, Climate Change Security and its impacts on Water, Food and Energy, and Decision support systems for effective operation of water systems.
• * Vice President, founding Member and Governor of the Arab Water Council, Cairo, Egypt, 2004-until now.
• * Chairman, International Advisory Board, ACWA Holding, from 2015-
• * Founder, Chairman and CEO, Miahona Holding Company, ACWA Holding, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2006-2015.
• * Member of Supreme Steering Committee for National Strategy, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2017-2018.
• * Advisory Board member to the Minister of Water and Electricity, Saudi Arabia. 2001- 2014.
• * Governor of the IHE-Institute for Water Education, Delft, Netherlands, representing 22 Arab countries, Delft, Netherland, (2005-20014).
• * Member, International Scientific Think Tank on Safe Water and Sanitation for the Prime Minister of Canada, for achieving the New Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Governance Center, Ottawa, Canada, February,2005.
• * Board Member, International Advisory Committee (IAC) , United Nations University, International Institute for Water, Health and Environment (INWEH), of the United Nation University (UNU), Hamilton, Canada (2002 to 2008).
• * Board Member, International Advisory board of UN- Global Institute for Water Environment and Health (GIWEH), Genève – Switzerland (2012-2015).
• * Governor of the UNESCO Regional Center for Water Training and Studies for Nile Basin and Arab countries, Cairo, Egypt (2002-2008).
• * Fellow and Ex-Director of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA), USA (2004-2007).
• * Managed more than 65 major applied research projects in water resources at KFUPM.
• * Contributed to writing 13 international books and more than 165 technical papers.
• * Editor, technical editor and on the editorial board of sex international refereed journals in water resources.
• * Organized, chaired and participated in scientific committees and organization of more than 100 water related conferences, symposiums and workshops in Saudi Arabia, Arab Countries and worldwide.
• * Won seven international and national awards and prizes: including: Prince Sultan International Water Prize, 2006, the Prize of the Best Water Scientist in Arab Countries by the Council of Arab Ministers, and SABIC Award for Best Invention Using Plastics for Water Conservation,2003.

Sujala Pant

Sujala Pant is an experienced international development professional currently based in Amman, Jordan, and brings over 15 years’ experience working on sustainable development, governance, and climate finance. Prior to joining the UNDP Regional Hub in Amman, Sujala served with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) where she supported countries in Europe and the CIS, and the Arab States region to access climate finance more effectively. Before that, she had a number of assignments with UNDP at the regional and global level, including in her role as Governance and Climate Finance Advisor supporting over 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as Special Assistant to the Head of Governance in UNDP Headquarters, New York. During her tenure with the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) Sujala was based in Bhutan and Nepal, working with national and sub-national entities to strengthen their planning and implementation capacities.

Sujala has a MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, UK.

Rashyd Zaaboul

Mr. Rashyd Zaaboul is a climate modeler at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

His main areas of research are climate change impact and adaptation in semi-arid and arid environments. In the last years he focused on drought monitoring in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and has developed drought monitoring systems based on remote sensing and modeling data for Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Jordan. Currently, Rashyd is working on the assessment of climate change impacts on food production in UAE and participating in a project on coastal ecosystem’s rehabilitation in Abu Dhabi.

Rashyd holds a MSc in Meteorology from the Hassania School of Public Works in Morocco and the National Meteorological School in France in 1998.

Raafeeq Mahmoud Abuilsayyin

Raafeeq Mahmoud Abuilsayyin is the Director General of the General Company of Water and Wastewater (GCWW) in Libya, where he has worked for 20 years.  His past posts include service section director, customer service director, deputy director general, assistant director general, and senior member of the managing council and, currently, the Director General.  Raafeeq has a Bachelors in Engineering and a Master degree in business administration

Prof. Quirico Migheli

Quirico Migheli is full professor of Plant pathology at the Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy.

In 2007 obtained the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR), University of Burgundy, Dijon, France

2011-2014: Rector’s delegate for International Student Mobility.

2013-2015: Rector’s delegate for research.

2013- 2015: Vice-President of the Italian Society of Plant Pathology.

Member of the PhD School in Agricultural and forestry systems and food production.

2011-2015: Senior Editor of the Journal of Plant Pathology (2011-2015); 2016-present: Editor-in-Chief of Biocontrol Science & Technology.

2016-present: Chair, BSc degree in Security and International Cooperation.

Since 2021 is the Director of the Desertification Research Centre /NRD), University of Sassari.

Main research topics: food safety and food security issues; molecular and physiological plant-pathogen interactions; biological control of mycotoxin-producing fungi; risk assessment of biocontrol agents.

Bibliometrics: H-index: 31 (WoS); 32 (Scopus); 39 (Scholar); i10-Index: 85 (Scholar). Total publications in WoS: 113; Scopus: 121; Scholar: 218. Citations: 2470 (WoS); 2700 (Scopus); 4600 (Scholar)

Prof. Jules Van Lier

Jules van Lier is full professor “Wastewater Treatment / Environmental Engineering” and head of the Section Sanitary Engineering of Delft University of Technology, with a 0.2 fte seconded position at UN-IHE, Delft, both the Netherlands. He received both his MSc and PhD from Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and is specialized in Anaerobic Treatment technology.

His research interest comprises the development of cost-effective technologies for (waste)water treatment, recovering resources such as water, nutrients, biogas, elements from waste streams. Research projects are focused on closing water cycles in industries and sewage water recovery for irrigated agriculture. He (co-)authored over 270 scientific papers and book chapters and has a Scopus H-index of 55 and Google Scholar of 68. Jules van Lier chaired the IWA Anaerobic Digestion Specialist group between 2001 and 2009 and became nominated member of the IWA Fellow programme in 2011.

Waleed Hassan Abouelhassan

Waleed Hassan Abouelhassan grew up in Egypt. He was an Irrigation ProjectsManager, FAO-Egypt (2018-2021). He also served the National Water ResearchCenter, Egypt from 1998 until 2018. In 2020, he was appointed as a Professorin thecenter.

Waleed has two PhD degrees from Mansura University in Egypt (2004) and Tottori University in Japan(2006) in the field of Water Management titled “Improving Surface Irrigation using Simulation Models” and “Integrated Water Resources Management in Arid Lands”. Furthermore, he was awarded from theJapanese Society for Science and Technology (JSPS) a fellowship (2007-2009) titled “IntegratedIrrigation and Drainage Water Management for Sustainable Agricultural Development”. He wasappointed as a visiting Associate Professor in Arid Land Research Center, Japan. Waleed is a collegereviewer of the UK Research and Innovation.

In coordination with water related international organizations, Waleed lead many national, regional, andinternational irrigation projects. Within those projects, he was responsible for coordination, planning andimplementation of projects that mainly deal with integrated water resources, management of waterprojects using RS/GIS (i.e. SIDA and WAPOR), reuse water, water accounting, smart irrigation, and waterproductivity as well as pumping water using solar energy. From an integration and sustainability point ofview, he lead a team on behalf of the Government of Egypt for two international collaboration projectsinvolving Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, and Japan titled “Designing Local Frameworks for Integrated WaterResources Management” and “Development of Integrated Indices on Water Management Performancefor Wise Irrigation”. He has also been actively involved in JST/JICA-funded project titled “Sustainable Systems for Food and Bio-energy Production with Water-saving Irrigation in the Egyptian Nile Basin. Waleed supervised master and doctorate theses and has about 60 publications in international journals, reports, and conferences. He is also a reviewer in different international journals and an active member in different international societies such as ICID.

Xurong Mei

Prof. Mei Xurong is the Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) responsible for strategic research and financial support since 2017. He received his B.A. and M.S. degrees in agrometeorology from China Agriculture University (1984) and Graduate School of CAAS (1987) and trained on water management in agriculture in Hebrew University of Israel (1994). He served as Director General of Department of Research Management of CAAS (2013-3017), Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture of CAAS (IEDA, 2003-2014), and Institute of Soil and Fertilizer of CAAS (SFI, 2001-2003).

Prof. Mei Xurong has been engaged in dryland agriculture R&D in northern China for more than thirty years and become the Principal Scientist for dryland agriculture of China since 2001. He specialized in boundary layer vapor flux, SPAC water balance, crop water requirement and productivity, biological water-saving theory and technology, dryland and water-saving agricultural models for both water and food security. He served as chief scientist and team leader for the national projects of dryland agriculture, launched many important reforms of dryland agriculture research, and made several landmark research findings that ensured food security in dryland area. Many achievements were concluded under his leadership, such as the core technologies of dryland agriculture in China, the development and implementation plan for rainfed and water-saving in China (2008-2015), and the establishment of CAAS-ICARDA-ICRISAT joint Center of Excellence for Dryland Agriculture (CEDA).

Prof Mei Xurong has published more than 150 academic papers and 15 monographs in the fields of dryland agriculture and sustainable development. Under his leadership, 4 research achievements won the National Scientific and Technological Progress Awards. In recognizing of his contribution to dryland agriculture R&D, he was granted the government allowance, the nominee of BAI-Qian-Wan talent program, the national outstanding scientist, and was appointed by the MARA as the director in the Expert Committee on Dryland Agriculture, and Expert Committee on Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Currently, Prof Mei Xurong is also the director of the National Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Water Use and Disaster Mitigation of Crops, and the director of the Comprehensive Laboratory of Agricultural Environment by MARA, as well as the president of Chinese Society of Agrometeorology of CAASS.

Prof. Dr Ragab Ragab

UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UKCEH, rag@ceh.ac.uk

President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, ICID ragab@icid.org

In order to accurately determine the irrigation water requirement, one should consider the actual crop demand expressed as actual evapotranspiration (ET). New technologies have recently emerged to measure the actual ET such as Eddy Covariance (EC) and Scintillometer.

The actual crop water requirement, based on the new technology, could save at least 50% of irrigation water estimated by the commonly used methods for potential evapotranspiration such as the Penman–Monteith equation. Another benefit is that these modern technologies for measuring the actual evapotranspiration do not need the crop coefficient Kc; obtaining Kc is a major problem for many irrigation practitioners.

The Cosmic-ray Soil Moisture Observation System (COSMOS) for estimating the crop water requirement is a new approach. Soil moisture is a crucial parameter to determine the crop water requirement for irrigation. The soil moisture deficit (SMD) of the root zone is an indicator that can be used to determine the exact crop water requirement. COSMOS provides continuous, integrated, area-based values, with a measurement radius of up to 700 m, whilst being non-invasive.

The COSMOS technology is a step in the right direction as it provides continuous, integrated, area-based values of soil moisture and solves the problem of spatial variability often found in point measurements in relation to soil spatial heterogeneity. Cosmos has advantage as an integrated area-based, non-destructive and hazard-free method of measuring soil moisture and for determination of crop water requirements based on soil moisture deficit.

Modern efficient irrigation systems such as subsurface drip irrigation and applying the Partial Root Drying (PRD) method as an irrigation strategy can save substantial amount of water. Precision irrigation, precision land management and better crop management can help improving the agriculture food production. Given the limited fresh water resources, the conventional water resources could fill-in the gap between water supply and demand. However, this requires careful management to safe guard the environment.

Plácido Plaza

Plácido Plaza Lopez is, since February 2018, the Secretary General of the CIHEAM. An Agricultural Engineer with an extensive experience in applied agronomy both in Latin America and in the Mediterranean, he has a long experience in coordinating research and education networks with universities and research and development institutions on Mediterranean Agricultural and Natural Resources related issues. He has also managed EU cooperation programs and coordinated CIHEAM educational and research activities.

Paul Glennie

For more than 10 years, Paul Glennie has been dedicated to supporting countries to implement Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This has included global, regional, national and basin assessments, covering topics such as governance, freshwater ecosystem management, climate change, and transboundary cooperation. In the era of the SDGs, he has been heavily involved in supporting countries to monitor and report on SDG indicator 6.5.1, and work towards Target 6.5 on water resources management and transboundary cooperation. He is particularly interested in effective multi-sector and multi-stakeholder participation in IWRM to achieve broader sustainable development objectives.

Mohamed El-Ghazaly

Mohamed El Ghazaly, is the Country Programme Officer at IFAD and he is managing Egypt Portfolio (Largest in NEN). He is responsible for the overall programme of loans and grant for Egypt portfolio and manages the IFAD-funded programmes in Egypt

Before joining IFAD, El-Ghazaly was vice president of El-Zanaty & Associates which is one of the large private sector firms in the field of research, consultancy and evaluation. He lead major evaluations done by the firm for agriculture sector including evaluations on the Integrated Water Resources Management Programme in Egypt. He has over 20 years of experience in the fields of programme management, rural development, research and monitoring and evaluation. His international experience in rural development projects incorporates extensive work in several countries in Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

El-Ghazaly holds a MBA in Business Administration from the Arab Academy of Science and Technology (Egypt) and B.Sc. in Foreign Trade from Helwan University (Egypt).

Dr. Maurizio Raeli

Maurizio Raeli, jurist, since 2017 has been serving as the Director of the CIHEAM Bari – Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes – the Italian seat of the intergovernmental post-graduate advanced centre for applied scientific research and international cooperation. Since 1978, he has worked in glamorous institutional settings and has held numerous offices, namely: Coordinator of SINAB (Sistema Informativo Nazionale dell’Agricoltura Biologica), Member of the Governing Board of ISA (Istituto Sviluppo Agroalimentare S.p.a.), a financial holding company of the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy (MIPAF) currently absorbed by ISMEA, Member of the Teachers’ Board for the Doctorate in “Environment, Resources, and Sustainable Development” of Parthenope University of Naples, Executive at the “Unione Regionale Bonifiche delle Irrigazioni e dei Miglioramenti Fondiari per la Puglia”.

From 1988 to 2001 he was Principal Administrator of the CIHEAM Bari and, from 2001 to 2016, he served as Deputy Director of the Italian seat of the CIHEAM, as well as coordinator of numerous international Master Courses implemented in collaboration with academic and scientific institutions in the Mediterranean Region (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey), and international cooperation projects funded by the European Union, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policy and Regione Puglia.

In charge of the development and management of the “Mediterranean Organic Farming” sector of the CIHEAM Bari Institute, since 2006 he has been coordinating the international research network MOAN (Mediterranean Organic Agriculture Network) composed of representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture from 25 Euro-Mediterranean Countries.

Editor-in-chief of the quarterly scientific journal NEW MEDIT (Mediterranean Journal of Economics, Agriculture and Environment), he is the author and co-author of more than 50 articles and scientific publications on themes related to international cooperation, protection of the environment and natural resources, and Mediterranean organic agriculture.

Maurizio Raeli was born on 30 September of 1955. He is married and has three children.

Lionel Dabbadie

Lionel Dabbadie is the Senior Fisheries and Aquaculture Officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Based in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), he is responsible for providing support to Gulf Cooperation Council states and Yemen. Before, he has been working in FAO headquarters in Rome, where he was responsible for a programme aimed at developing guidelines for sustainable aquaculture. A doctoral graduate of the University of Paris-Jussieu and an Agronomist Engineer of Montpellier SupAgro, he served for over 25 years as a scientist for the French Agricultural Research Center (Cirad), working in partnership with local institutions in Africa, Latin America and Asia. In 2015, the president of the Asian Institute of Technology bestowed upon him the title of Distinguished Adjunct Faculty and he also received several awards, among which a Special Distinction from the Philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources or the Silver Medal of the French Academia of Agriculture. He published over 50 scientific and technical publications, translated two aquaculture books into English, and produced an e-learning course on aquaculture (https://uved-formation-aquaculture.cirad.fr). He is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society and an active social media contributor on aquaculture and fisheries.

Prof. Khaled AbuZeid

Prof. AbuZeid carries a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Cairo University, and M.SC. & Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. He’s a registered Professional Engineer, and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

He has over 30 years of experience being CEDARE Regional Water Director, North African Ministers Council on Water Technical Secretariat Officer in Charge, Arab Water Council Director of Technical Programs, Egyptian Water Partnership Secretary General, Global Water Partnership-East Africa (GWP-EA) Chairman, Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development Vice-Chair, Chair of the 5th Arab Water Forum Organizing Committee, Member of the Arab League’s Council of Water Ministers’ Advisory Committee, Union for the Mediterranean Water Experts’ Group.

He was the Team leader of the Nile Basin Decision Support System Conceptual Design, Arab State of the Water Reports. He is an author of several publications on the Water, Energy, Food Nexus, transboundary water management, droughts, water demand management, wastewater reuse, groundwater management, green & blue water, virtual water, integrated urban water management, integrated water resources management and others. He developed several water policies, strategies, and plans including 2050 Water Resources Policy Options for Egypt, Egypt 2030 Wastewater Reuse Vision and Strategy, and Alexandria Integrated Urban Water Management Strategic Plan.

John Thompson

John Thompson is a qualified engineer from the U.K. He has made the Caribbean his home for the last 20 years having previously been intermittently in the region since 1986. He holds chartered engineer status in the United Kingdom and fellow status with the U.K. based Institution of Mechanical Engineers and U.K. based Energy Institute. He is also a registered engineer in Europe and Trinidad & Tobago with over thirty years’ experience of contracts in the process industry including water treatment. His technical skills are supplemented by a postgraduate degree in Business Management from Cranfield University, which was gained through the grant of an engineering fellowship by the Engineering Industry Training Board in the UK and through this he is a member of the Association of MBAs (AMBA). John joined the Desalination Company of Trinidad & Tobago Limited (Desalcott) after nearly twenty years with George Wimpey and successor companies (the last being Carillion) where as Projects Director he ran their process, energy and industrial sector work in the Caribbean. This included involvement in the water sector through the Severn Trent/Carillion joint venture agreement for the interim operation of the Water and Sewerage Authority in Trinidad & Tobago also through process plant feedwater treatment by ion exchange and reverse osmosis. He previously worked for UK engineering company, John Brown Engineers and Constructors Ltd, having started his career, initially as an undergraduate apprentice, with Rolls-Royce.

Following being Project Director for Desalcott during construction of the Point Lisas Desalination Plant, John was confirmed as General Manager in 2002 and continues in this position to date with the Plant after successive expansions currently producing 40+MIGD.

Joelle Comair

Joelle Comair is a water resources consultant at the Climate Change and Natural Resources Sustainability Cluster of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). As a professional in project planning and research in the fields of water resources management and sustainable development, she has extensive knowledge of the international and Arab regional context relating to water resources policy and management, with a focus on supporting decision-making processes and awareness-raising to promote cooperation between governments and different stakeholders in the field. She has conducted research and analysis in the areas of water policy, shared water resources, climate change and water quality in the Arab region in consultation with experts and government representatives, and a major part of her experience involved developing publications and communication materials targeted to different audiences to bridge the science-policy gap and foster dialogue on these crucial issues. She has been involved in the United Nations-League of Arab States Regional Initiative for the Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources and Socio-Economic Vulnerability in the Arab Region (RICCAR). Joelle Comair holds a BSc Degree in Agricultural Engineering from the American University in Beirut and an MSc Degree in Water Resources Management from École des Ponts ParisTech, France.

Iyad Rammal

Iyad Rammal has a Master of Science in Management Engineering and PH.D. in Public Administration.

Mr. Rammal has been working with the World Bank Water Global Practice for 10 years. He worked in different regions and countries MNA (Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Libya, Iraq), South East Asia (Mongolia), ECA (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania), and in Africa (Sudan).

Mr. Rammal, has been leading water supply and sanitation projects (including construction of wastewater treatment plants), capacity building and sector reform, utility aggregation and sector regulations. He worked in preparation of damage needs assessment reports and utilities crisis management, and PPP initiatives.

Prior to the Bank experience Mr. Rammal has compiled 15 years of comprehensive experience in public institutions, local government and community development, utility restructuring and local government and water sectors reform.

He has contributed to the development of the management structure and strategies of the water sector in Palestine as well lead the establishment of the Water Regulatory Council and Municipal Development and Lending Fund. Besides that, Mr. Rammal has been involved in teaching in Palestinian universities and providing training for public employees.

Isabel Martin

Isabel Martin is Senior Researcher and Project Technician in the Andalusian Public Foundation Center of New Water Technologies (CENTA), belonging to the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing, and Sustainable Development.

Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Seville, Research member of the RNM377 Group, Project Technician (permanent contract) at the CENTA Foundation, with more than 25 years of experience, her main area of knowledge is wastewater treatment and reuse, including so-called Nature-based Solutions.

She has participated in numerous training activities, both nationally and internationally, reviews for international journals, as well as participation in the organization of International Congresses in the issue.

She has participated in the publication of books, manuals, articles, and special editions of international journals and has participated in numerous congresses, seminars, conferences, and round tables, both national and international.

Jury member in Doctoral Theses, co-supervisor, and evaluator of Ph.D. Thesis, and co-direction in Final Master’s projects.

Collaborator of the Group of Parasitology of the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology. Fac. Pharmacy. Univ. Sevilla and the Nematology Group, Fac. Biology. Univ. Sevilla, both collaborations in the framework of water reuse. Honorary assistant of the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology (Fac. Pharmacy, University of Seville).

Member of the Technical Standardization Working Body AENTCTN 149 “Water Engineering”, UNE Expert and Member of the ISO / TC 282 / CTG1 (Water reuse) Committee, National AENOR Expert for ISO / TC 282 / SC1 (Treated wastewater re-use for Irrigation), ISO / TC 282 / SC2 (Water re-use in urban areas), ISO / TC 282 / SC3 (Risk and performance evaluation of water re-use systems), ISO / TC 282 / SC4 (Industrial water reuse).

Igor Malgrati

Igor Malgrati is Water and Habitat Advisor for the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Middle East, based in Amman, Jordan. He is focused on the intersection between environmental issues and conflict, supporting delegations with issues such as environmental sustainability, climate resilience of conflict affected communities, urban service provision, and the protection of essential civilian services.

Previously, Igor spent fourteen years with the ICRC and other governmental and non-governmental organizations in the field of humanitarian and development policy, strategy and operations. During this time, he has focused on sustainable development, human security, public health engineering, integrated water management, access to water, shelter, energy, urbanization and conflict. He has worked in Iraq, Yemen, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Kenya, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Italy.

He has a degree in Building Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy and an MSc in Building and Urban Development from University College London, UK.

H.E. Mohamed Abdel-Aty

H.E. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt, member of Water and Climate Leaders Panel, he received his PhD in Irrigation and Hydraulics. He obtained his License of Hydraulic Engineering, from Sweden, and had his Master degree from UK in Management and Implementation of Development projects .

In 2006 Dr. Aty received two MWRI World Water Day celebration for best research awards and in 2001he received a medal of excellence in Engineering. He isa water resources planner and manager, with more than thirty years of academic research in addition to national, regional and international practical experiences in formulating, monitoring and evaluating water plans and development policies .

Dr. Aty, hasa solid international experience in climate change impacts assessment on water resources, infrastructure resilience, agriculture, flood and disaster risk management further to his broad Experience in flood preparedness and early warning systems as well ascommunity preparedness, simulation and forecasting, flood risk mapping. He has effectively contributed to the second and fourth world water forum in Netherlands and Mexico respectively.

He worked in several countries with different cultures and gained international experiences worldwide, notably in Africa; he possesses many expertises in premises and construction management and structural design.

Dr. Nisreen Lahham

Nisreen Lahham is a Senior Researcher and Regional Project Manager at International Water Management Institute (IWMI). She manages ReWater MENA Project; a regional project on reuse of wastewater, and coordinates a project on Gender, COVID and Egypt’s water security, at IWMI MENA Office in Cairo. Nisreen has particular knowledge of Urban Planning, including a Ph.D. on environmental economics tools. Her work career exceeds 15 years’ experience in research for development and practice working on environment, agriculture and water with development agencies, NGOS and governmental institutions.

Prior to joining IWMI, Nisreen worked for GIZ, at the Nexus Dialogue Programme, as the Coordinator for the MENA region, where she gained a distinctive experience on Water- Energy-Food Nexus. At a former stage she served as the Executive Manager of the Center for Future Studies at the Egyptian Cabinet.

Dr. Lahham is one of the world’s top female futurists, enjoying the trans-disciplinary nature of futurism. Her career includes founding the Future Studies Forum for Africa and the Middle East, to promote strategic ties between sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East through conducting Futures Studies. She has worked on projects around diverse issues such as future of water and food security, the development of cities over the next few decades, and planning for Egypt in 2030. She authored or co-authored several publications in peer-reviewed books and journals on urban development, food and water security and foresight.

Dr. Hussein El-Atfy

• Former Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt
• Honorary Vice-President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).
• Honorary President of the Egyptian National Committee for Irrigation and Drainage (ENCID).
• Former Secretary-General of the National Water Research Center (NWRC).
• Presently, Secretary-General of the Arab Water Council.
• On the National Scale, Dr. Hussein El-Atfy throughout his 40-year professional experience in the field of water resources management, he progressed in the high-caliber posts of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt till appointed Senior Undersecretary, where he contributed effectively to the development of short- and long-term strategies, policies and national plans for water resources management till year 2050, besides the planning and implementation of national mega projects (improvement of irrigation and drainage, integrated water resources management, institutional reform, updating of laws and legislations, …) towards improvement of water resources management in Egypt.
• On the Arab, Regional and Institutional Scales, Dr. Hussein is presently the Secretary-General of the Arab Water Council, an Arab regional organization working on the international scale, and has numerous contributions in the water sector on the national, regional and international domains. He also has distinguished relations with numerous development partners, including Arab, regional and international organizations and institutions, with the aim of promoting cooperation towards water security and achieving the sustainable development goals. In collaboration with the League of Arab States (LAS), he assisted in formulating the Implementation Plan of the 2010-2030 Strategy for Arab Water Security.
• Dr. El-Atfy is lecturer and consultant for different national, regional and international organizations, research Institutes and universities, and supervisor and reviewer of numerous research papers and dissertations. He is Head of the Water Resources Committee at the Federation of Arab Engineers and Member of the Water Committee at the Egyptian Engineering Syndicate.
• Throughout his professional career, Dr. El-Atfy participated in a series of regional and international Conferences and Fora and is author of several papers and books, and also scientific editor of many local and international journals on water, including the Arab Water Council Journal “Al-Maa.”
• Dr. El-Atfy was awarded a number of Recognition Awards and prizes from national and international organizations for his distinguished contributions in the water sector. He is Winner of the ICID Watsave Award on “Innovative Water Management” in 1999 for outstanding contribution to water conservation and water saving in agriculture.

Essa AbdulRahman Al Hashemi

Mr. Essa AbdulRahman Al Hashemi is the Head at the Food Security and Water Office, the Ministry of Presidential Affairs. He has more than 13 years of experience in strategy development and implementation covering a wide range of sectors including infrastructure development, transportation and roads, environment management, food security, green development and quality infrastructure. In his current role, he oversees development of the national food security strategy in the UAE and adoption of technologies and their utilization in the agri-business sector, and facilitates the development of the country’s food security agenda.

He previously worked with the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology as the Director of Conformity Affairs and Chief Innovation Officer. He also served as Acting Assistant Undersecretary of Environment Affairs at the Ministry of Environment and Water. Before that, he was the Director of Green Development and Chief Innovation Officer at the ministry. He also held senior positions at the Roads and Transport Authority, including the post of the Director of Planning and Business Development – Public Transport Agency.

Eng. Marwa Ali

Eng Marwa Ali is a Research officer of Water Resources Management and Accounting at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Middle East and North Africa Office (MENA). She has over 15 years of experience in the fields of hydrology, integrated water resources management, shared water management, and natural disaster risk reduction and management. She holds a Master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering from Katholieke University of Leuven and Vrije University of Brussels, Belgium. She built her career in a variety of roles and activities, where she was not only a researcher but also a lecturer, and organizer of international conferences, workshops, and training courses. Eng. Ali was involved and taken leading roles in national, regional, and international projects where she made sure of applying research into action and efficient involvement of all stakeholders.

Her current position focuses on providing support to improve the management of water resources in the MENA Region and to facilitate the development and the implementation of water accounting frameworks among partners from governmental entities in the MENA region and relevant stakeholders. In addition, she supports policy and strategy development for water governance analysis and carries out building capacity activities to improve the productive use of water in all related water sectors using applied ICT innovations.

Adel Yasin

Engineer Adel Yasin He received his Bachelor degree in civil engineering from Birzeit University in Palestine 1997, and master degree in water and environmental engineering from the BirZeit University in 2004.

Eng. Yasin is Director General of Strategic planning Directorate. He has been working in the Palestinian Water Authority since 1998 . Eng. Yasin is one of the national key experts in the field of planning and wastewater management. Eng. Yasin primary research areas of interest include policies, national strategic and national water master plans. Also Eng. Yasin working as project manager and coordinator for several water and wastewater projects in both infrastructure and capacity building and researches funded by different donors.

Prof. Vinay Nangia

Dr. Vinay Nangia is a Research Team Leader – Soil, Water, and Agronomy at ICARDA, an adjunct faculty at the Texas A&M University (USA), and a visiting professor at Tottori University (Japan). Dr. Nangia is an Advisory Board Member of Global Institute for Water, Environment, and Health (GIWEH – a Geneva-based water think tank), Steering Committee member of the UN FAO WASAG, Expert Member on UNCCD IWG on Drought, and ICARDA focal point for UNFCCC. He received his Ph.D. in Water Resources Science and two M.S. degrees – one in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering and another in Geographic Information Science – all from the University of Minnesota, USA. During a 16-year research career,

Eng. Rizk Gerges Rizk

Mr. Rizk was born in Ras Baalbeck situated in the North Bekaa Region. He attended College de la Sagesse (Achrafieh)private school before graduating in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a Master’s degree from “École des Ingenieurs de Beyouth” (ESIB) at Université Saint-Joseph (USJ). After 10 years of combined experience in several countries, he pursued a Master’s Degree in Business Management (MBA) from the Universities of IAE Paris Sorbonne Business School and Paris- Dauphine in collaboration with USJ.

He developed a wide experience in strategic management both in public and private sectors with a proven ability to drive high impact projects working in Paris, Marseille, Nicosia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Beirut.

His cross-country experience with several International, French, and Lebanese companies and institutions such as LBC, CBM, Integro, SAB, Actinet, Gemalto, USJ, NDN, Air France, Air Liquide… for more than 28-year period, has shaped him to be a hard-working senior manager filling in the positions of administrative director, team leader and general manager. It widened his expertise in management both in the engineering and education domains.

He is active in several social non-profit organisations and member of different alumni associations.

Driven by his interest to improve the water management(&distribution) in his region of origin, he dedicated his MBA thesis to “the reorganization of the Water sector/infrastructures/ system in the Bekaa area”.

In March 2018, he was assigned by the Council of Ministers to the position of Chairman of the Board and Director General of the Bekaa Water Establishment, this allowed him to launch the process of modernizing and reforming the Water & Waste Water Sector in Bekaa.

Dr. Wadid Erian

Dr. Wadid Erian Professor of soil science at Cairo University since 2001; Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development at the League of Arab States since 2016; member of UNISDR Global-STAG since 2017 and GAR advisory group since 2010; Chief Lead Auther in the Regional report “Achieving SDGs in Countries Affected By Conflicts.”; Coordination Lead Auther in the UNDRR GAR Special Report on “Drought Complexity”; Founder and General Coordinator of the Arab Geographical Information Room – AGIR-LAS/AWC,” and Programme Coordinator of the League of Arab States – Climate Risk Nexus Initiative (LAS-CRNI) since 2015.

Senior Advisor, CCA, and DRR at LAS (2014- 2016), Director of Land and Water Uses division in the Arab Center for the studies of Drylands and Arid zones – ACSAD/LAS, (2002 – 2014); General Coordinator for the Project “Natural Resource Studies for Potential Agriculture Land Use Planning in Sudan” (2006-2019), Lead Author in the IPCC/SREX WGII report (2009 – 2012), and Advisor and author of the World Bank Flagship Report, (2010 – 2012). Senior Advisor at UNDP in the ACRI (2014 – 2015), World Bank consultant at (2016 – 2017), UNDESA consultants (2018-2020), and FAO consultants (2018-2020).

Has a long list of applied researches and studies that covered more than 100 different countries in the world on the topics of “Sustainable Development, Drought, Land degradation, Vegetation Cover, Land use planning and Natural Resource studies.

Theresa Wong

Theresa Wong is Climate Change and Sustainability Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s

(FAO) Regional Office for Near East and North Africa based in Cairo.

Dr. Nizar Haddad

Dr. Nizar Haddad, the Director General of the National Agricultural Research Center- Jordan. Holder of PhD & MSc degrees in Agriculture, MSc degree in Management and Strategic Studies. Author of 17 books and has over 80 scientific publications in climate change, food security, eco-system services, rural development, genomics, and beekeeping. Haddad gained 4 national, and 6 international awards of achievements.

In addition to his executive career, Haddad serves on several national and international steering committees and advisory boards, in addition to being the national focal point of the “Blue Peace in the Middle East” Initiative, a member of the National Committee of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP)- UNESCO, and a member of the Higher Preparatory Committee of the 2021 Global Land Forum in Jordan. Led the national teams to develop the Agricultural Map, Water Harvest Map, and Flash Floods Map.

Haddad has a vast experience in aligning institutional strategies with SDGs and effective resources’ mobilization, to accelerate accomplishments, resources, and technology transfer dissemination.

Dr. Mohamed Ramadan

He is currently director of Egyptian Science, Technology and Innovation Observatory (ESTIO) at the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) in Egypt. He is a Fellow of Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) – Egypt “member of the Council for Future Studies and Risk Management”, a deputy editor of Arab STI journal of STI policies, assistant secretary of the Arab association of science, technology and innovation observatories, and Secretary of the supreme committee for planning, contracting and follow-up at the ASRT.

He is managing and actively participating in design and analysis of foresight exercise by most common tools (Delphi, Scenarios writing, future wheels, other tools), He is a member of many national projects as Egyptian Scientists database, Egypt leaps (energy foresight initiative), Improve of Egypt rank in International index , National Survey of R&D and Innovation and Egypt Beyond Corona Foresight for Water, Transport, Industry, Information Technology, education and Higher education.

He has a Master and Ph.D. degrees in physical chemistry with major focus on Nano-catalysis. He has many publications in Foresight and STI policies, He has participated in many of international workshops, training, and conferences in science and technology and innovation policies and Foresight in Japan, China, Malaysia, Lithuania, Italy, Spain, and others. He is Egyptian focal points of UIS- UNESCO, OECD (STI policy), NEPAD, African observatory of science, technology, and innovation. He has trained some Arab observatories such as the Sudanese Observatory and the Libyan Observatory.

Dr. Mohamed Helal

Dr. Mohamed Helal is currently a Professor of Law at the Ohio State University, Mortiz College of Law in the United States of America. He is also a Counsellor with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and recently served as the legal counsel to the Foreign Minister of Egypt and covered various issues, including cooperation with the Nile Basin countries and the negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. He is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and is also a member of the African Union Commission of International Law.  

Prof Mahmoud Sakr

Sakr had more than 15 years of cumulative experiences in high level management of Scince, Technology and Innovation, and served as acting president of ASRT, Vice president of ASRT, Executive Director of STDF (Science and Technology Development Fund), Head of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Division (NRC), and Co- founding director of Center of Scientific Excellence for Advanced Sciences (NRC). Saker got his PhD in Plant Biotechnology from Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Egypt in 1995 (most of the experimental work was carried out in Pavia University, Italy) and professorship in Plant Biotechnology in 2006.

Sakr has received the State prize for Scientific Encouragement in Advanced Biotechnology (1999), National Research Center prize for Scientific Encouragement in Biology (1998), National Research Center prize for Scientific Excellence in Biotechnology (2009), and was chosen as the scholar of the year (2019) by the Association of Egyptian American Scholars. He had more than 130 publications, three books (In Arabic), three chapters in co-authored books (Springer), more than 10 post doc fellowships in USA, Italy, India and Germany, and more than 10 National and International research grants before joining STI management in Egypt in 2007. Saker is serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Elsevier/Springer) since 2010, and the Arab Journal of Scince, Technology and Innovation Policies since 2020. He also serving as elected vice president of some International Organizations, such as SESAME, NAM and the secretary general of Arab Association of Biotechnology, Fedration of Arab Scientific Research Councils, Arab League. On the national level, Saker was serving as member of BOD, BOT and Councils of many universities and Research Institutions including for example, Cairo, Tanta and King Salman Int. University, Zewail, E-JUST, NRC, SARTA, EPRI, ERI, ARC, ADP, …etc.

Dr Ragab Abdel-Azim

• Dr Ragab Abdel-Azim has over 30 years of experience in the field of water resources management and engineering. He was appointed to high-level public positions in the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in Egypt. Currently he is the First Undersecretary of Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.
• Dr Ragab has wide ranging, specialized expertise related to water and environmental management, including water resource policy and planning, integrated water management and allocation, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation of water resources projects.
• His previous positions included:
  • Head of Irrigation Improvement Sector
  • Head of Central Directorate for Studies, Specifications and Design of Grand Barrages and Reservoirs
  • Head of Central Directorate for Water Monitoring Systems and Communications (Telemetry)
  • Director General of Water Distribution
• He also participated in the implementation of the following Projects and Programs:
  • Project Manager for preparing a Master Plan of rehabilitation of Hydraulic Structures in EGYPT
  • Senior Irrigation Engineer for The Water Policy formulation and implementation Project
  • Water Resources Management Specialist for Development and Implementation of the Integrated Water Management Program in Egypt
  • Head of a ministerial committee to develop the new Law of water resources in Egypt as part of the water strategy 2050

Dr Abdoul Aziz

Dr Abdoul Aziz has a PhD in Dryland Ecology from the Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

He has 30 years of experience on seed science and technology, seed system analysis, rangeland monitoring, restoration, and management in the CWANA region.

From 2012 to date he has managed the ICARDA International Nursery Research Program, coordinated the Iran-ICARDA food security project, and worked as the Seed Specialist providing expert inputs into several seed system development and diversification projects.

He is also working as the Coordinator of the ICARDA Arabian Peninsula Regional Program.

Dr. Ibrahim Elwan

Ibrahim Elwan is the Chairman of Elwan Group (EG); a group created to develop, own and operate Water and wastewater infrastructure projects. To date, EG has developed projects in power, wastewater, and real estate in the United States, Europe, and Asia amounting to about US$ 4 billion.

Prior to establishing EG, Mr. Elwan held number of senior positions at the World Bank during his nineteen years with the institution. His professional career was primarily focused on the development of infrastructure and energy. In order to overcome the unavailability of long-term financing required for infrastructure projects, he spearheaded the World Bank’s first initiative in supporting private sector participation in infrastructure development creating the ‘Private Sector Energy Development Fund” which raised US$ 600 million and generated US$ 2.6 billion in equity and commercial debt to finance about 3,000 MW of privately-owned power generation capacity.

Mr. Elwan was the architect of the World Bank initiative for the infrastructure development by private sector through Private-Public-Partnership based on Build-Own-Operate structure, and the Enhance–Co-financing Guarantee (ECO Guarantee), where the Bank guaranteed the performance of Governments under the Concession Agreements. The ECO Guarantee instrument was successful in attracting financing for major power projects in countries such as Pakistan and China.

Mr. Elwan left the World Bank in 1994 to pursue Private Sector development of Infrastructure. He created Elwan Group (EG) to develop projects and hold EG’s equity. EG and its subsidiaries are developer, and all together are not a fund as they believe in hands-on development of Projects, compared to managing Funds at a distance from for the actual work on development of projects.

Presently, Mr. Elwan is Executive Chairman of Elwan Group holding equities in number subsidiaries in the Middle East and the European Union, all which are engaged on the development of water infrastructure emphasizing the use of renewable energy and protection of the environment and recovery of economic resources.

Presently, Mr. Elwan Chairman of TANQIA FZC (TE), Fujairah, one of the first privately-owned wastewater utility in the Middle East. TE developed, financed, manages and owns majority shareholding of TANQIA. In addition, TANQIA-SIYANA, a fully owned subsidiary EG has a 48-year contract to operate and maintain the facilities owned by TANQIA FZC. All subsidiaries are involved in the development of number of projects in water and wastewater that operate under the brand name of TANQIA.

Mr. Elwan studied industrial engineering and management, and master and doctoral studies in economics. He published a number of articles on project finance that appeared in numerous publications, including the Financial Times, Project Finance International, Infrastructure Finance, the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), Project and Trade Finance, Power in Asia, and the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Dr. Chandrashekhar Biradar

Dr. Chandrashekhar Biradar is a Research Team Leader and Principal Scientist at ICARDA- A CGIAR Research Center. He has multi-disciplinary educational backgrounds in Forestry, Agriculture, Genetic Resources, Space Applications and Environmental Sciences with core expertise on Revitalizing Dryland Agroecosystems for improving food, nutrition, and ecological security. Dr. Biradar has authored and co-authored over 225 scientific publications. He received numerous international awards such Best Team Initiative 2005, Young Scientist, 2006, Outstanding Scientist, 2013, Excellence in Innovation of Agriculture Extension, 2021. Research Interests: Harnessing digital technologies, agroecology and indigenous knowledge for building inclusive agroecosystems for ecologically sustainable and economically viable agri-food systems.

Amgad Elmahdi

Dr. Amgad Elmahdi is the Director of MENA Region, IWMI. He is a Senior Regional Water Analyst, Solutions and Water Accounting Specialist. He has over 25 years of working experience in the fields of in Hydrology, Water Resources Assessment, Water Accounting, Water Governance, Water Information Management, Digital Technologies for Water Management, Water Policy and Planning, NEXUS Assessment and Management, in operational, research, and academic settings. Before joining IWMI, He was the Head of the Water Resources Section and Chief Supervising Hydrologist at the Bureau of Meteorology-Australia. His experiences involved providing evidence-based science and low-cost solutions to sustainably manage water and land resources for water and food security, people’s livelihoods and the environment.

He is also a recognized International Water and Natural Resources Management Expert and the Australian representative for several international agencies-  such as ICID- International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage. He is the chair of the IWRA-Water Security Bureau (International Water Resources Association) and he has received several awards nationally and internationally for his Science Impact for Landscape Water modelling in Australia and Strategic Excellence Award for Partnership and Watsaving award-ICID.

Dr. Tarek Kotb

Lead Global Technical Specialist, Water and Rural Infrastructure

The International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD

In his current capacity, Dr Tarek Kotb assists the IFAD member countries in their efforts to design and implement programmes with water and rural infrastructure components. Previously, he served IFAD as Country Director for Sri Lanka, Nepal, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Libya.

Dr Kotb has extensive experience in the design and implementation of over 52 agricultural and rural development programs and projects benefiting hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers and producers, particularly youth and women. Through these interventions, he has been applying a theory of rural transformation anchored around community mobilization, income-generating activities, partnerships with the private sector, resilience to natural and human-induced crises, as well as enhancement of social cohesion. His international experience in water resource management and rural development incorporates wide-ranging work in several countries in Africa, South Asia, Near East, Central Asia and Europe. In this context, he pioneered a labour-intensive approach to secondary canal maintenance as part of a social development initiative. In addition, he has spearheaded a number of initiatives, resulting in the adoption of an integrated water sector-wide planning and development model, with a distinct focus on Water User Associations’ involvement.

Before joining IFAD in 2014, Dr Kotb served as First Assistant to the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt (MWRI) – the second senior ministerial position responsible for mega projects, irrigation improvement projects and the national water resources plan. He also served the World Bank as Water Resources Management Specialist in the Near East and North Africa Region.

Dr Kotb holds a Ph.D. in Water Resources Management and Environmental Engineering from Osaka University (Japan), M.Sc. in Irrigation Engineering from Southampton University (UK) and a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and Public Works from Ain Shams University (Egypt). He is the author and co-author of 22 research papers published in international and national journals on subjects related to effective water use as well as agricultural and rural development. He is awardee of a number of national and international awards among which the 2009 FAO Improved Institutional Quality & Enhanced Impact on Food Systems Award.

Dr. Roula Khadra

International officer, Senior researcher and Science coordinator at CIHEAM-Bari, rural engineer with a M.Sc. in Land and Water Resources Management, a Ph.D. in Mediterranean Agriculture, and a Fulbright Post-Doc Fellow at UC Davis (2008). She published one book and several scientific papers and reports pertaining to her main research that integrates rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation systems and schemes, technology development and transfer with a focus on water quality, water-energy nexus, and accountable, transparent, inclusive, and responsive governance. This includes strategic planning, modelling, design, and implementation of national participatory irrigation management and transfer programs, development of integrated technological and management solutions and DSS for irrigation and water distribution, monitoring and evaluation systems, and dissemination and outreach frameworks.

Involved in and leading several Research and Cooperation projects, Dr. Khadra has intensively worked in the last 20 years in the Mediterranean Region and on the international arena, establishing stable partnerships for Research and Innovation, comprising an active membership as CIHEAM representative in CMI-Water hub, and as a CIHEAM-Bari representative at the Arab water Council board of delegates.

Dr. Mohamed AlMulla

Mohamed Almulla is currently working as Director of Water Resources Department at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (UAE). Dr. Al Mulla also served as the Director of Water Resources Department and Director of irrigation Department at the Ministry of Environment and Water (UAE).

He received his PhD in Water Resources from Cranfield University, England in 2006. He earned his MSc and BSc degrees in the Fields of Water Resources, Irrigation and Environment from UAE University. In 2012 he accomplished the UAE Government Leaders Programme _ Executive Leadership.

Dr. Almulla involved in projects focused on water resources evaluation, water legislation, water resources strategic planning and management, agriculture water management, soil surveying, water harvesting and water resources development and sustainability with specific reference to UAE and GCC region.

H.E. Prof. Mahmoud Abu-Zeid

• Former Minister of Water Resources & Irrigation of Egypt (12 years 1997-2009).
• President of the Arab Water Council (Since 2004to date).
• Honorary President of the World Water Council for life since 2003.
• Former President of the National Water Research Center, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Cairo, Egypt (1979 -1997).
• Member of UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water Supply and Sanitation (UNSGAB).
• Co-Chair of the UN High-Level Taskforce (HLT)for the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), January 2010.Former President of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA).
• Hon.Vice President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).
• B.Sc Civil Engineering (1957),M.Sc Irrigation Engineering (1960), Ph.D Groundwater Hydrology (1962).
• Honorary Doctorate from IHE Delft University, the Netherlands.
• Holder of several awards and prizes.
• Author of more than 200 papers and 12text books.
• He led the move towards on-farm Water Management and Integrated Water Resources Management in Egypt.
• Consultant for numerous international organizations: WB, WHO, CIDA, USAID, FAO, UNEP and UNESCO.

Prof. Hesham Bekhit

Dr. Bekhit has more than 24 years of experience as a researcher and consultant in environmental projects related to water resources in general and surface and subsurface hydrology in particular. Dr. Bekhit obtained his Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Nevada, Reno, USA, in the field of contaminant hydrogeology. Dr. Bekhit has many papers published in international journals with high impact factors in the field of groundwater and contaminant hydrogeology. Since July 2009 till present, Dr. Bekhit has served as a consultant to the Nile Water Sector of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation dealing with evaluating and analyzing cooperative projects between Egypt and the Nile basin countries. Also, Dr. Bekhit was appointed as Assistant Minister for the Transboundary Water, Studies and Research Improvement, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation the Arab Republic of Egypt from 2019-2020. His major research interest is in numerical simulation of hydrologic systems including the development and application of numerical models that allow for a better understanding of the system and allow for decision making within an uncertain environment. He is currently a professor of water resources at Cairo University Faculty of Engineering, where he is teaching several courses including groundwater hydrology, contaminant transport, water resources engineering, and water resource systems. Dr. Bekhit is involved in the design, running, teaching, and currently, supervising: Water Engineering and Environment (WEE) Bachelor program at Cairo University (the first civil engineering Bachelor’s degree with specialization and water and environmental management. In addition, he is the executive coordinator for the Shared Water Resources Diploma of Cairo University, a 1-year diploma specialized in shared water resources management hosting candidates from the Nile Basin. Also, Dr. Bekhit has 20 years of work experience in training and developing training modules and curricula catered for a multidisciplinary group of participants, the topics covered include groundwater modeling, contaminant transport, and risk management, flood hazard and associated risk, and rain harvesting for the resilience of social and agricultural systems in arid and semiarid regions. Dr. Bekhit attained experience in managing, coordinating, and directing donor-funded programs through executing several projects funded by USAID, STDF, GIZ, NBI, and other national organizations. Dr. Bekhit’s consulting projects include water resources projects, groundwater modeling, subsurface hydrology, contaminant transport, wadi hydrology, flash flood protection, spate irrigation, and dams’ design.

Dr. Hammou LAAMRANI

Holding a :

• PhD in Water Management, Copenhagen University, Denmark
• MSc. in Environment Sciences, Faculty of Science, Rabat, Morocco
• BSc. in Hydrogeology, Faculty of Science Fez, Morocco

Currently :

• 1. Senior Integrated Expert, Water, Energy, Food Security and Climate Change Nexus Department of Environment, Housing, Water Resources, Economic Affairs, League of Arab States, Cairo, Egypt.
  • Supported by German Cooperation, Centre for International Migration and Development

Served previously as :

• Researcher at The International Water Management Institute in Ghana/ Sri Lanka, www.iwmi.org
• Researcher at National Agronomic Research Institute, Morocco.
• Senior Program Officer and Program Manager at Canada International Development Research Centre (www.idrc.ca), MENA Regional Office, Cairo, Egypt.
• Advisor to GIZ (www.giz.de) Program Adaptation to Climate Change in Water Sector in the MENA Region (www.accwam.com), (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH)

Dr Dino Francescutti Motis

From 2019, Dr Dino Francescutti Motis is the Sub-regional Coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the Gulf Cooperation Council States and Yemen and also the FAO Representative in the United Arab Emirates. He is Mexican and Italian, with a Ph.D. in Economics and a M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the USA and a B.Sc. in Animal Husbandry from Mexico. From 1982 to 1991, he worked in Mexico as Project and Financial Analyst and in the USA as Researcher and Professor while completing his graduate studies. In 1991, Mr Francescutti joined FAO as Food Security Officer. From 1995 to 2019, he worked as Economist and Senior Economist of the FAO Investment Centre, in Rome (Italy) and Santiago (Chile). He was often Officer-in-Charge for the Investment Centre Service, covering Latin America and Caribbean, Europe, North Africa and Middle East. He provided substantive technical support to most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, but also in some countries in Africa and Asia. He was instrumental in the development of capacity development tools of FAO for investment related work, from identification to results assessment. Currently, he leads the development of the FAO programme of work in several GCC States, in support of the food security strategies of member countries. In the UAE, he currently facilitates policy and technical dialogue between FAO, other UN agencies and the Government in support of strengthening strategic frameworks and actions around food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture, aquaculture and livestock development.

Dr. Ajit Govind

Ajit Govind is a broadly trained Environmental Physicist who is interested to study various biophysical interactions on the Earth’s surface. Currently, he is working as ICARDA Climatologist based in Egypt. He is also a senior scientist at the French National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA). At ICARDA he is responsible for all climate research initiatives in the dryland contexts in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Central Asia, India and China. He is serving as the CCAFS (Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security) focal point of ICARDA. He is also responsible for the MENA-Grand Challenge of the CGIAR Two Degree Initiative and discussing partnerships with various governments and international organizations in the MENA region. He is currently leading the Iraq Climate Change project funded by UNEP where he advises Climate Adaptation and Mitigation interventions to the Govt of Iraq. Similarly, he also worked in Jordan under the WorldBank funded Climate Smart Agriculture Initiative. He works with FAO in establishing an Evapotranspiration monitoring Network in the MENA region under the Regional Water Scarcity Initiative funded by Sweden.

He has expertise in areas such as (1) Boundary-Layer Meteorology, (2) Ecohydrological modeling (3) Physics of Remote sensing (4) Climate Analytics and (5) Soil Physics. He has previously worked in [1] Canadian Carbon Program and Fluxnet-Canada, [2] AmeriFlux and North American Carbon Program [3] European Flux Program (CarboEurope and ICOS), and [5] India (University of Kerala). His academic training consists of a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences (TNAU, India, 1998), Master’s degree in Agricultural Physics (IARI, India, 2001), and Doctoral degree in ecohydrological-biogeochemical modeling (University of Toronto, Canada, 2008).

Chris Cormency

Chris Cormency is the Regional WASH Advisor for the UNICEF office for the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to joining his current position, Chris worked in a number of other postings within UNICEF, including the WASH chief in Mozambique, the Chief of the Water, Sanitation and Education Centre in UNICEF Supply Division, the Regional WASH Advisor for West and Central Africa and as the WASH Chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Prior to joining UNICEF, Chris worked in the WASH sector with a variety of NGOs in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central America as well as with the private sector in the US and Europe. Chris has a Masters in Materials Engineering and a Bachelors in Engineering Science.

Aly Abousabaa

Aly Abousabaa is CGIAR’s Regional Director, Central and West Asia and North Africa, as well as Director-General of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

He is a strategic leader in sustainable development, climate change advocacy, and agriculture research in global dry regions. His scope covers North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central & West Asia.

In addition to being an active reformer both within ICARDA and the OneCGIAR reformulation, Aly promotes the global scaling of dryland agriculture innovations to improve the livelihoods resilience of smallholder family farmers under a climate crisis.

Prior to joining CGIAR to head ICARDA, Aly was Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). He led the preparation and execution of the Bank’s key strategies in the areas of agriculture, water, natural resources management, climate change, infrastructure, women, youth and governance. Through mobilizing and managing a portfolio of USD 11 billion, his work made a transformational impact on the lives of millions of people across Africa.

At the AFDB, Aly also helped coordinate climate change negotiations in Africa, and acted as Gender Champion. He continues to sit on several international boards and has built up a personal global network of international partners in development.

Aly holds a master’s in civil engineering from Montana State University in the USA and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Alexandria University.

Alberto Carletti

Alberto Carletti, PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, is a researcher of Applied geology at the Department of Agricultural Sciences of the Sassari University. His research interest concerns several topics related to water resources, in particular groundwater: (i) qualitative and quantitative evaluation of groundwater resources, (ii) seawater intrusion processes in coastal aquifers, (iii) nitrate pollution in aquifers from agricultural practices, (iv) aquifer vulnerability assessment, (v) natural aquifer recharge assessment at watershed/hydrogeological basin scale in arid and semi-arid environments, (vi) water harvesting and managed aquifer recharge (MAR) techniques, to be implemented in particular in developing countries and (vii) desertification processes related to water management issues. Since 2003, he has collaborated with the Desertification Research Centre of the Sassari University (NRD-UNISS) on several national and international research and cooperation projects concerning water management issues. He is currently the coordinator for NRD-UNISS in the ENI CBC MED project entitled “MENAWARA – Non conventionAl WAter Re-use in Agriculture in Mediterranean countries” (2019-2022), funded by EU. Within this project, he is scientific responsible for the implementation of a MAR pilot plant, through the Forested Infiltration Area (FIA) technique aimed to contribute to the mitigation of the nitrate groundwater pollution in the NVZ of Arborea (central-western Sardinia, Italy). He is also collaborating on the H2020 project entitled “EWA-BELT – Linking East and West African Farming Systems Experience into a BELT of Sustainable Intensification” (2020-2024), within the subtask on “Sustainable water management”, for the improvement of the efficiency of traditional water harvesting techniques in 6 countries of East and West Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone). He has co-authored over 20 scientific papers, his H-index is 7 (Scopus) with 235 citations (Scopus).

Akiça Bahri

Akiça Bahri served as Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries from September 2020 to February 2021 in Tunis, Tunisia. From March to August 2020, she was Secretary of State in charge of Water Resources. Prior to this, she was a Professor at the National Agricultural Institute of Tunisia, and earlier she worked as Coordinator of the African Water Facility (AWF) at the African Development Bank; as Director for Africa at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), based in Accra, Ghana; and as Director of Research at the National Research Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Water and Forestry in Tunisia (INRGREF). She has worked in water research in the fields of water resources management and agricultural use of marginal waters and biosolids. She has authored over 100 research and policy papers and reports. She has received international honors. She holds an Agricultural Engineer degree and a Doctor-Engineer degree from the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, France, and a Ph.D. from Lund University, Sweden.

Dr. Ahmed LEGROURI

Ahmed Legrouri serves currently as a Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) at the International University of Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire, since January 2015. He has been the lead expert for the preparation of the Arab regional report on the implementation of IWRM, progress on SDG indicator 6.5.1, as a consultant to ESCWA. He holds a BS from Mohamed V University in Rabat, Morocco, a Third Cycle Doctorate from the National Polytechnic Institute, Toulouse, France, and a Ph.D. from Glasgow University, United Kingdom. He served previously as a professor at the Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, Morocco, and as Academic Coordinator, Dean and VPAA at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. His research interests are in intercalation compounds, biomaterials, environment and education. He also founded research groups on water management and natural resource valorization, which have received external funding to work on regional projects. He has supervised several doctoral theses and published more than eighty articles in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings. He has also been guest speaker at numerous international conferences and institutions. He has developed experience in quality assurance in higher education and contributed to the production and implementation of strategic plans and international accreditation systems of his universities. He also served as a member of several scientific advisory committees, including the Board of Governors of the Arab Water Council, the Board of Advisors of the Arab Water Academy and received several international merit-based fellowships.

Ahmed Ali Ayoub

Graduated from Cairo University and a got his PhD from Bari Ado Moro University in 2020, His research is focusing on Low cost IoT sensors to enhance the performance of traditional irrigation systems. Currently he is a project technical assistance in CIHEAM Bari participating in multiple regional projects. Also, Ahmed is an active member of MedYWat (Mediterranean youth for water), a young professional network with +200 members. Ahmed is one of the communication team and responsible for organizing monthly technical webinars for the network.