Zaina Dawani

Senior Education Specialist for Jordan

World Bank Group

Summary

Zaina is an accomplished professional with a wide range of leadership experience at multinational organizations and settings. With over 17 years of experience promoting human development solutions for countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, Zaina’s career included holding senior positions in Lebanon, the UAE and Jordan and consulting for various prominent multi-national and government organizations across the region.

Career History

Zaina is a passionate development expert who has dedicated her career to making a positive impact in the Arab World. Her diverse experience helped her understand the complexities of working in challenging environments and addressing development challenges from multiple dimensions spanning fiscal policies, governance and strategic planning.

Zaina is the Senior Education Specialist for the World Bank in Jordan, and the Co-Chair of the Education Development Partners Group in the country. She has been leading the growth of the Bank’s education portfolio and coordinating the efforts of more than 15 donors to ensure a harmonized development response to the pressing issues in the education and skills development sectors in Jordan.

Zaina joined the World Bank in 2010 as a Social Protection Specialist leading work on the Iraq Social Protection and Jobs Program. Her work after that focused on providing implementation and technical support to education programs across the MENA region through providing consulting services to the World Bank, other international organizations and government entities. She managed major programs in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, including those dealing with skills and workforce development, human capital policies and SME development policies. She was involved in key reforms in Jordan, Iraq, Yemen and the UAE and authored a number of publications and reports.

Early in her career, she worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Jordan supporting Iraq education programs.

Throughout her career, Zaina has demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting gender equality and social inclusion. She believes that development and humanitarian work should prioritize the needs and voices of marginalized communities, and she actively works to ensure their participation in decision-making processes.

Education, Certification and Board Membership

MA Education and International Development | University College London (UCL) | London, UK

Postgraduate Certificate Disciplined Entrepreneurship | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | Boston, USA

Postgraduate Certificate Economic Policy | School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) | London, UK