Dr. Mesky Brhane, is the Regional Director for Sustainable Development in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) region at the World Bank. In this capacity, she leads the formulation of the Bank’s strategy and engagements and all Bank lending, technical assistance, partnerships, and policy advisory work for sustainable development in MNA. This includes agriculture and food, climate change, environment, natural resources and the blue economy, social sustainability and inclusion, water, urban development, disaster risk management and land.
She oversees a lending portfolio of $8 billion and a team of 140 professionals from Washington, D.C. and 10 country offices. Dr. Brhane has over 25 years of experience in international development working in the Middle East, East Asia, South Asia and Africa regions.
Prior to assuming the role of Regional Director for Sustainable Development, Dr. Brhane held several leadership roles in the field of urban development, disaster risk management and land. She served as Practice Manager in Africa West, Africa East and South Asia regions for urban development, resilience and land and worked as Program Leader for Sustainable Development based in Nairobi, Kenya where she pioneered the Bank’s engagement on lagging regions. She also served as a Senior Urban Development specialist working in East Asia and MENA Regions (based in Jerusalem), leading operations and policy dialogue on housing, local economic development, urban upgrading, municipal management and service delivery.
A U.S. national, Dr. Brhane holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Chicago. She speaks Amharic, Arabic, French, and English.
