Staff

Dr. Omar Rifai is currently Head of the Board of Directors of the WANA Institute. Prior to this, he was Director of the Arab Affairs Division and Representative of the Commissioner-General at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). A career diplomat, he served as Ambassador of Jordan to Egypt and Permanent Representative to the Arab League in Cairo; Ambassador to Italy and Permanent Representative of Jordan to the UN Agencies in Rome; Ambassador (non-resident) to Bosnia-Herzegovina, San Marino, Croatia; and Ambassador to Israel.  Dr. Rifai was also Secretary-General of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, and President of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy.  

Dr Yara heads the WANA office with experience in developing projects in Human Security and Social Justice. She provides training and consultation in topics related to preventing violent extremism, education, social protection, and policy research and writing.

Dr Al Naber is a specialist in sustainability and integrated natural resources management and policies in the Arid region. She manages several projects addressing the environmental security in the WANA region. She takes a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses the fields of climate change, food and water securities, environmental displacement and migration, social inclusions, vulnerability and gender. She has an extended experience in the sustainability of agriculture system under scarce conditions of drought, salinity and water scarcity. 
 

Dr Yara is senior researcher specialised in education in the Human Security and Social Justice pillars. She has a PhD in STEM Education from Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Jordan. She designs and leads projects addressing preventing violent extremism, the future of education, social protection, and public policy research and writing. Her research interests include knowledge building in learning environments and the role of language and culture in constructing and communicating knowledge.

Reem is a researcher in the Sustainable Development Pillar. Her research covers topics of hydro diplomacy, green economy, climate change adaptation and mitigation, renewable energy and water, migration and conflict.  Reem holds a Bachelors in water and environmental engineering from the German Jordanian University and a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in water governance: frameworks and negotiations from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She previously interned with Engineers Without Borders in Regensburg, Germany, as a water engineer.

Esraa joins the WANA Institute as a researcher and project coordinator in the Human Security Pillar with a focus on field implementation of action plans and programmatic responses based on local needs. Her interests are gender-based equality, women democratic empowerment, human trafficking, women rights and promoting the concept of human security as a violence pre-emptive effort.

Rawaa joins the WANA Institute as a researcher and project coordinator in the Human Security Pillar after a year of being placed at WANA through the Lazord Fellowship Program as a research intern. She holds a BA in Cultural Studies from the Hashemite University. Her field of interest is related to prevention of violent extremism, countering hate speech, and promoting intercultural dialogue.

Marah Jamous joins WANA as researcher in the Human Security pillar (Economic Growth team) after completing six-month internship with WANA. Her research interests lie in studying refugees and forced migrants and their inclusion in different aspects of society; particularly economically. Moreover, she is interested in researching voluntary and labour migrants in Jordan. Marah holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Jordan.

Samer is a researcher in the Sustainable Development Pillar, he holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Jordan and is passionate about integrating his engineering knowledge in various sustainability topics such as climate change, green circular economy, and food security.

Hussain joins the WANA Institute as an accountant, bringing five years of professional experience in finance and accounting with national financial institutions.
Before Joining WANA, Hussain worked as Assistant Department Head in Jordan Islamic Bank

Fawaz serves the WANA Institute as the Logistics Assistant and Driver.