Ralf Klingbeil is the Regional Adviser on Environment and Water at UN ESCWA, Beirut, Lebanon.

Mr. Klingbeil is a principal adviser for water and environmental with extensive experience in environmental and water policy advice and management in the Middle East and Africa. Initially trained as a hydrogeologist, geophysicist and geoscientist, he acquired more than 18 years of professional experience in university research and teaching, private consultancies, public institutions, advisory services for UN agencies and German Federal Ministries. He has worked as groundwater specialist and adviser for water and land resources management in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Mr. Klingbeil has particular experience in water resources assessments and management plans, water and especially groundwater protection schemes, integrated water and land resources management, contaminated land investigations, investigations for the location of landfills and waste deposits, environmental impact assessments. He has been involved in the development of adaptation measures to water and land resources management in the context of climate change. He has been advising on water and environmental issues including transboundary water and environmental cooperation especially in Africa, the Middle East region and neighbouring countries.

Through his extensive international cooperation with partners in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, he has established good contacts with a wide network of experts.

Mr. Klingbeil holds a PhD in Hydrogeology / Applied Geology (German: “Dr. rer. nat.”), an equivalent to a Master degree in Geophysics (German: “Diplom-Geophysiker”) and a M.Sc. in Hydrogeology. He has developed to a principal advisor on water and environmental issues through his work in cooperation with water and environmental professionals mainly in countries in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Mr. Klingbeil has contributed to many international conferences, publications and book and publication reviews on issues often related to water resources management.

email: klingbeil@un.org 
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Aida AbuRas, Regional Advisor on Advancement and Empowerment of Women
Aida Aburas is the Regional Advisor on Gender issues at ESCWA. Ms. Aburas has a more than twenty years of work experience. In the past eight years she has been working on human rights and gender issues. She has worked for different national and international organizations such as the Jordanian National Commission for Women JNCW, the Swiss organization “Peace Women Across the Globe”, and UNIFEM, in addition to working with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Jordan. She is the co-founder and head of an NGO that works to protect migrant women’s human rights.

Ms. Aburas holds an MA in Women’s Studies from Jordan University and a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Yarmouk University (Jordan).
Email: aburas@un.org
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Omar Hakouz, Regional Advisor on National Accounts and Economic Statistics

Omar Hakouz has more than twenty years of experience in economic statistics compilation and national accounts. He is currently the Regional Advisor on Economic Statistics and National Accounting Methodologies in ESCWA. Mr. Hakouz has worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for more than 4 years as a national account statistics advisor working in three countries, namely: Syria; Lebanon and Libya.

Prior to that, he worked for the Department of Statistics (DoS) in Jordan by which he held and progressed to different positions including the position of Director of Economic Statistics Directorate, Head of National Account division and he was a counterpart with the UNDP expert who constructed the input/ output table for Jordan for the year 1987. During his tuner at the DoS, he carried out several national accounts technical missions with the IMF to several Arab countries including Iraq, Algeria and Yemen. Mr. Hakouz was a member of the Advisory Expert Group to the Inter-secretariat Working Group on National Accounts for revising the SNA1993. In addition, he was a member of national account experts group that reviewed the draft of the Handbook on Non-Profit Institutions in the System of National Accounts.

He was a lecturer in several training programs on national account and quarterly indicators conducted by both; the Arab Monetary Fund in Abu Dhabi and the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics.

He has profound practical experience in the compilation of national accounts, conducting economic surveys, price statistics, quarterly national accounts, households’ surveys and compiling of input/output tables.

Mr. Hakouz has a BA degree in Economics (major)/ Finance (as a minor) from Yarmouk University in Jordan and he completed 36 credit hours of a Masters Program in Economics at Yarmouk University.
Email: hakouzo@un.org
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Nawar Al-Awa, Regional Advisor on Information and Communication Technology Policies.

Nawar Al-Awa is the Regional Advisor on ICT Policies at ESCWA. Mr. Al-Awa has more than 18 years of professional, academic and research experience. In the past five years, he has been working on e-services, ICT infrastructure, and ICT capacity building issues. He has worked for different national and international organizations such as the SCS (Syrian Computer Society), UNDP-Syria, and ITU, in addition to his work at Damascus University. He was also Dean of IT engineering faculty (Damascus University), and Editor-in-Chief of University Journal for Engineering Sciences.

Mr. Al-Awa holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Systems from INPG (Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble- France), a DEA (Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies) in Electronic Systems from INPG-France, and an Electronic Engineering degree from ENSERG (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Electronique et de Radio-électricité de Grenoble).
email: alawa@un.org
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