Rasha Omar

Rasha Omar is IFAD’s Country Director in the Near East, North Africa and Europe Division (NEN). She is an agricultural economist and has been working in the field of agricultural and rural development since 1992. She joined IFAD in October 2001, and since then, she has participated in the management of country programmes focusing on natural resources management, community development and rural finance as means to alleviate rural poverty and foster social equity.

She has served as IFAD Country Director in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and India. Omar also served as Head of the South Asia Hub, covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. 

Prior to joining IFAD, she worked in the Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research as Research Assistant and in the Center for Development Services in Egypt as training and technical assistance manager. 

Omar holds a Diplôme d’Ingénieur Agronome from the Institut National Paris-Grignon, France and a Masters in Rural Environment and Planning from Wye College, London University.