Our Team in Bahrain

Mr Khaled El Mekwad, from Egypt, has devoted over 30 years to public service. Prior to his current position, he served as UNIDO Regional Representative for Southern Africa based in Pretoria covering ten SADC countries, UNIDO Representative in Sudan with coverage for Djibouti & Yemen, and UNIDO Representative Lebanon with coverage for Jordan & Syria. During 14 years in the UN system, he addressed Industrial & Socio-economic Development, Environment, Poverty Reduction, Human Rights & Post-war recovery in the Middle East & Africa.

Prior to the UN, he pursued an extensive Diplomatic career in his national capacity for 19 years where he served as Alternate Representative at the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the UN in Vienna, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Egypt in Dakar, and Political Officer at the Mission of Egypt to the EU in Brussels.

He obtained two post-graduate Diplomas in International Relations from the National School of Administration in Paris and the Institute for Diplomatic Studies of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo. Mr El Mekwad also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Cairo University. In addition to Arabic, his mother tongue, he speaks fluent English & French.

Ms. Nora Achkar currently serves as the Chief of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Regional Office for Arab States. With over 20 years of experience in program and project management, Nora has led humanitarian and emergency operations, and coordinated cooperation programs across the Middle East, Africa, Amercia and the Asia-Pacific region, working extensively with international organizations and the private and public sectors.

Prior to joining UNDRR, Nora was the Senior Project Manager for Humanitarian Mine Action in Mali with UNOPS. She also briefly served as a Political Affairs Officer with UN
Peacekeeping Mission.

Throughout her career, Nora has made significant contributions to disaster risk reduction activities. She has led initiatives in community-based risk reduction, early warning system
development, and explosive ordnance risk education and prevention. She has coordinated numerous working groups and played a key role in capacity-building activities aimed at civil
society, national institutions, and entities.

Nora holds a BA in Social Work from Saint Joseph University in Beirut and a Master’s Degree in Public Health with a focus on Environmental Policy from the University of London.

Mr. Ben Lassoued has over 15 years of experience in communications and journalism. He joined the Department of Global Communications from the United Nations Development Coordination Office, where he provided communication support to United Nations country teams worldwide, including in Africa and the Arab region.

Previously, he worked with the United Nations in various development and humanitarian settings as well as for the Government of Tunisia and the media. Mr. Ben Lassoued has developed and implemented multimedia information campaigns and communications strategies, including crisis communications. He has built strong partnerships with United Nations agencies, governmental institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector.

Mr. Ben Lassoued is a former student of contemporary philosophy (Magistère) at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. He also holds a research master’s degree in history of philosophy from the Paris-Sorbonne University.

Ms. Asmaa Shalabi has nearly two decades of experience in development, humanitarian affairs, and strategic planning. She joined UNDP Bahrain from the Executive Office of the Secretary-General where she provided critical support on strategic initiatives that advance UN coherence and cross-pillar collaboration, as well as support to the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda.

Previously, she worked with the United Nations in various development, political, and humanitarian settings, including in leadership roles at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office for Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Ms. Shalabi has managed complex programs, mobilized resources, and developed strategies to address peacebuilding, stabilization, and humanitarian-development priorities. She has established strong partnerships with UN agencies, national counterparts, donor governments, and regional organizations.

Ms. Shalabi holds a master’s degree in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is fluent in English, French, and Arabic, with proficiency in several other languages, adding to her versatility in global engagements.

Dr. Ayman El-Hefnawi is a capacity-building and urban development specialist focusing on land management, urban planning practice and participatory planning. He has 30 years of professional, project management and city-level experience with a focus on urban planning/strategic and inclusive planning, land management, evaluation of development-oriented projects, training and capacity building, and other interrelated fields. Dr. El-Hefnawi has been the UN-Habitat Country Director in Saudi Arabia since 2020. He is currently the Senior Coordinator for the Quality-of-Life Initiative – a global initiative in partnership with the Saudi Government. From 2012 to 2014, he was the Team Leader for the Future of Saudi Cities Program, a transformational urban planning programme run by the Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs (MOMRA) and UN-HABITAT. Before that, he worked in several positions in the private sector and international agencies. Dr. El-Hefnawi holds a BSc in Architecture and a Diploma in Urban Management and Human Resources Development from the Institute of Housing and Urban Development, University of Erasmus, as well as two Master's degrees from Ain Shams University (Urban Design) and University College London (Urban Development Planning) and a PhD from Cairo University in Strategic Urban Planning.

As UNICEF Regional Representative for the Gulf States since April 2018, Mr Adam is responsible for managing and supervising UNICEF’s work, providing leadership and vision to the UNICEF country programme teams in planning and implementing local programmes and in managing and leveraging resources for the achievement of results and fulfilment of the rights of children. He was priviously UNICEF Chief Field Office for several operations in Mogadishu and Garowe, Somalia; in Qamishly, Syria; and in Sanaa, Yemen (2012-2018). Before joining UNICEF, Mr Adam has worked with UNDP in Abu Dhabi and Khartoum, and with Oxfam in Djakarta and Sana'a.

Dr. Hashim S. Hussein is the Head of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization – Investment & Technology Promotion Office (UNIDO-ITPO) and Director of the Arab International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training (AICEI) – Kingdom of Bahrain. He’s had extensive experience of over 20 years in SME and Entrepreneurship development and he is an international advocate for Women’s Economic Empowerment.
Dr Hussein holds a PhD (Honors) in International Law from the Universite de Nantes, France; and has obtained a Doctoral Research Programme from the University of Maryland at College Park, Centre for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM).

Judge Hatem Aly, a former Senior Judge and Chief Prosecutor in Egypt, has over 20 years of experience in the areas of criminal justice and crime prevention. He previously served as a Senior Crime Prevention Expert at UNODC Headquarters in Vienna. He was also a Representative for the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (SII) for the Middle East region and for Afghanistan. He holds a degree in International Criminal Law (ICL) from the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Italy as well as an ICL Diploma in International Cooperation in Penal Matters from the International Human Rights Law Institute in Chicago, USA.

Dr. Hesham is the Regional Representative of World Meteorological Organization for Arab Region. He has extensive experience in programs and projects contributing to the achievement of MDGs and SDGs in developing countries in both Africa and Asia, including in Implementing number of regional climate and water-related programs and pgrading technical and human capacities of multi-countries. He has more than 25 years of experience in water resources management and development, mostly in regional and international entities. Dr. Hesham holds a Ph.D. in Water Resources Planning and Management.

Mrs. Aishath Ihma Shareef was appointed as the IOM Chief of Mission to the Kingdom of Bahrain in October 2024. She brings over a decade of experience in public policy, international relations, and development.

Mrs. Shareef has served in various country contexts with IOM, including the Maldives, Nepal, the IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and Timor-Leste. Her work experience with IOM spans across labour mobility, border security and governance, counter-trafficking, as well as humanitarian response. Most recently, Ms. Shareef served as the Chief of Mission of IOM in Timor-Leste, and was awarded the Presidential Medal in recognition of services to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

Throughout her career, she has worked to establish strong relationships and strengthen engagement with governments, UN agencies, and other entities. She has focused on furthering developmental priorities, rights-based approaches, and resource mobilization.

Prior to joining IOM, Ms Shareef served with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Republic of Maldives, as well as with civil society and the private sector. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (International Relations and Sociology) and a Graduate Certificate in Law.

Ms Inas Hamad (Egypt) was appointed UNV Regional Portfolio Specialist for the Arab States in September 2020. She is based in Amman Regional Office. Before taking this regional position, Ms Hamad served as the UNV Country Coordinator for Egypt. Through her practical knowledge attained during 20 years of experience with the international world of nonprofits, including the World Health Organization, the World Bank, USAID, and Plan International, Ms Hamad has gained exposure in diverse capacities to several development fields. She has been involved in strategic planning, programme management, resource mobilization, and international cooperation. Ms Hamad holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the American University in Cairo and Columbia University in New York City, with focused studies on UN Management. She is a certified trainer in gender and development from the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands.

Jocelyn holds more than 25 years of experience in development and multilateral affairs with UN agencies and Intergovernmental organizations, leading the development of strategic partnerships and coordinating programmes.

He joined UNFPA in 2013 as Regional Strategic Partnership and Resource Mobilization Adviser for the West and Central Africa region. In this capacity, he led the development and implementation of the regional resource mobilization plans and supported the region in achieving its objectives. Since 2021, he has held management positions as Representative in Sierra Leone and in Guinea Bissau, where he joins us from today.

Prior to UNFPA, he worked with the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in different capacities and spearheaded interagency collaborations. As initiator and manager of the Antwerp International Training Center on Corporate Social Responsibility, he has promoted the principles of the Global Compact with private sector networks and professional organizations in different industry sectors; as Chief of partnerships for the Institute he has led a change management process to streamline and develop partners’ engagement; and as coordinator of capacity development programmes he has managed cross-cutting programmes dealing with international environmental conventions, environmental information system, decentralized south-south cooperation, UN operational satellite services and geographic information systems, and human development in complex areas.

With a background in physics of the environment, Jocelyn started his career as a junior professional with the European Space Agency.

He is married and has four children.

Mr Khlaifa has 20 years of experience in relief and development. He has led humanitarian operations in various settings of natural disasters and complex emergencies, including in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Libya and Pakistan. He Holds an MA degree in English Literature & Humanities from Minia University in Egypt, an MSc in Sustainable Development from the University of London, and a Project Management Diploma from Aalborg Technical School, Denmark.

Mr. Mazen Shaqoura is currently the Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. He has over 25 years of experience with the United Nations in human rights, rule of law, democratic development, good governance and program management. In his previous incarnations, Mr. Shaqoura was deployed in Tunis, Bahrain, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and Sudan. Mr. Shaqoura is fluent in Arabic, English and French and holds a Master of Arts in Diplomacy.

Dr. Moez Doraid (Egypt) is the UN Women Regional Director, a.i, for the Arab States and the Director of Management and Administration at UN Women’s Headquarters. Between May and November 2023 he served as UN Assistant Secretary General a.i. and UN Women Deputy Executive Director for UN Coordination, Partnerships, Resources and Sustainability, a.i. Dr. Doraid has held progressively responsible positions across the UN system over three decades working in Arab States, Asia, Africa, and at headquarters in New York. For much of the period 2019 -2022, he served as UN Women’s Regional Director, a.i., for Arab States, then for East and Southern Africa. More recently, he served as UN Women’s Country Director, a.i., Afghanistan. Dr. Doraid has led the formulation and implementation of UN Women’s strategy to support Arab then East and Southern African countries in their emergency responses to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Doraid has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the American University in Cairo; a Master’s in Public Administration focusing on development from Harvard University; and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Lebanese University.

Ruba Jaradat is the ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Arab States. Since she assumed her current post at the ILO in November 2015, the Regional Office has seen over an 8-fold increase in its Development Cooperation portfolio budget, as well as the development and signing-into-force of six Decent Work Country Programmes and the expansion of its policy-related support to constituents across the region. She holds a PhD in Management and International Development from the UK.

Mr Khaled’s career with the United Nations began in 1993, with the Operational Unit for Development Assistance (OUDA), a UNDP and Ministry of Foreign Affairs programme in Egypt, and subsequently at the UNICEF Office in Cairo from 1995 to 2001. He joined UNESCO in 2001 taking up several key positions in the Middle East, Asia, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, including some post-conflict and post-disaster countries such as Iraq and South Sudan.
Before joining the UNESCO Doha Office for the Gulf States and Yemen, Mr Khaled latest post was Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa based in Yaoundé (Cameroon) and UNESCO Representative to Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe.
A graduate of the American University in Cairo with a BA in Political Sciences and an MBA in Human Development from the Arab Academy in Alexandria, he speaks fluently English, French, and Spanish in addition to his maternal Arabic. Mr Khaled is married and has a son and a daughter.

With over 20 years of experience in management, Mr. Dimassi has extensive experience in multi-lateral and international relations, corporate and policy reform, intergovernmental affairs, strategy design and private sector engagement. Mr. Sami Dimassi joined the UNEP Regional Office for West Asia as Director and Regional Representative in 2017. He held several senior positions in the UN System, such as Senior ICT Advisor, Head of the Innovation Branch, Deputy Director of the Science division, Director of Private Sector Engagement, and Acting Director of Corporate Services all within UNEP. A Lebanese-Canadian national, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Ottawa University and a master’s in Management from Waterloo University in Canada.