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JOSEPH KARAM President and co-founder of ECODIT, Inc., is a civil/environmental engineer and economist/policy analyst with over 20 years of experience in providing consulting and technical assistance services to governments and local communities in planning, studying, designing, implementing and evaluating environment and development policies, programs, and projects in nearly 20 countries around the world, with a special focus on the Middle East and North Africa. He has worked on projects funded by international development agencies (e.g., World Bank, USAID, USTDA, European Commission, UNDP, UNESCO, and UNIDO), government agencies (e.g., Governments of Lebanon and Morocco), USEPA and state environmental agencies, and private industry. He has successfully directed more than 300 technology and policy projects covering a wide range of national, municipal and local environment and development planning and management issues, including water resource management, wastewater treatment and reuse, solid/hazardous waste management, industrial pollution control, sustainable tourism development, and natural resource management. Mr. Karam is the Technical Supervisor for the implementation of the Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) project ($3.1 M, 2005-2007), which aims at expanding economic opportunities in rural mountain areas of Lebanon by helping to establish, develop and promote as an international tourist destination a 300-km national hiking trail cutting across Lebanon from North to South. He is the Technical Supervisor for the Jordan Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Small Communities project ($4M, 2004-2008), which aims to strengthen water and environmental institutions and policies pertaining to wastewater treatment and reuse, demonstrate the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of appropriate technologies for the treatment and reuse of domestic wastewater in rural areas, and promote the participation of concerned stakeholders in planning, developing, implementing and operating sustainable local solutions to the problems of raw sewage discharges and irrigation water scarcity. Mr. Karam holds a M.S. in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two engineering degrees from France: one from the Ecole Polytechnique and one from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. He is fluent in Arabic, English, and French. Top
Director of ECODIT Liban, is an agricultural engineer and environmental management specialist with eight years of experience in solid waste and wastewater management and reuse, natural resources management, environmental monitoring and evaluation. Mr. El-Jisr has worked with government agencies, municipalities, NGOs and the private sector in many countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Afghanistan. He has completed more than 30 assignments for the World Bank, USAID, UN-Habitat, IDRC, USTDA, the Lebanese Ministry of Environment, Global Environment Facility and many UN organizations (UNDP, UNOPS, UNEP). Mr. El-Jisr played an instrumental role in designing and launching the Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) project, the first long-distance trail in Lebanon. He is currently the Deputy Chief of Party of the LMT project. For the Ministry of the Environment, he was the Team Leader for the “Lebanon 2001 State of the Environment Report,” which examined the institutional/legal framework for environmental management, at both the national and local/regional levels, and analyzed solid waste management issues and opportunities in the country. He directed many EIAs in the area of solid waste management (e.g., municipal waste, wastewater, sludge, and medical waste), ecosystem restoration, and mariculture. He has reviewed EIAs prepared by other consulting firms on sanitary landfills and transfer stations and made recommendations to protect public health and the environment. Mr. El-Jisr has identified strategic opportunities for targeted policy and technical assistance to implement more sustainable SWM practices in cities. For example, he was as a key member of the ECODIT Team that assisted the Federation of Municipalities of the Caza of Byblos to prepare a feasibility study of municipal solid waste management in the caza of Byblos (20 municipalities plus dozens of villages). For IDRC’s Water Demand Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa (WaDImena), he designed and implemented the pilot Regional Environmental Facility (REF) to promote knowledge transfer in water demand management. He planned, designed and facilitated five regional exchanges for senior policy-makers from six countries of the MENA region. For the Ministry of Environment in Lebanon, Mr. El-Jisr prepared several national actions plans to reduce land-based sources of pollution into the Mediterranean Sea (Barcelona Convention), to phase out polychlorinated biphenyls (Stockholm Convention), and improve protected area management in Lebanon (Convention on Biological Diversity). Top JEAN LE BLOAS Mr. Le Bloas is a civil/environmental engineer and planner with more than 35 years of experience in the fields of water and environmental engineering, water resources management, urban solid waste management, development planning, institutional development and capacity building. He has worked for multilateral agencies including USAID, River Basin Authorities, The World Bank, IFC, the European Union, as well as French and American private firms in Africa, Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. Mr. Le Bloas is currently the Chief of Party (COP) for the Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Small Communities project (the Small Communities project) implemented by ECODIT for USAID and the Water Authority of Jordan. In this capacity, he directs the ECODIT project team, as well as all input from US and Jordanian consultants and subcontractors, for the design, construction and related capacity building/institutional development in support of two wastewater treatment and reuse plants, one for Shobak in the south and one for North Shouneh in the Jordan Valley.
Previously, Mr. Le Bloas has led a multidisciplinary team of five engineers and technicians who, over a five-year period, have identified, designed, and implemented a package of integrated rural development projects including hydraulic infrastructure and irrigation schemes in Algeria’s arid high plateau. With the Ministry of Environment in the Sultanate of Oman, he analyzed key environmental issues focusing on permitting procedures and the adequacy of current environmental legislation. As a full-time USAID Personal Service Contractor in Dakar, Senegal, for nine years, Mr. Le Bloas has served as Advisor in river basin planning and development with regional responsibilities for managing USAID-financed programs and projects. In this capacity, he has successfully implemented a package of projects totaling US$13 million for the Senegal River Basin Organization.
Mr. Le Bloas prepared technical proposals for water supply and sanitation projects in rural and small towns in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. He has prepared project identification documents, master plans and/or environmental assessments for wastewater collection and treatment projects in Hungary, Burkina Faso, the Czech Republic, Kenya, and Mali. He has also proven managerial experience as he has successfully completed a variety of water management projects. As the Team Leader (1975-79) of the UNDP-funded "CILSS Irrigation and Rural Hydraulics Group" for the eight Sahelian countries, Mr. Le Bloas was praised for his superb management of irrigation and rural hydraulics programs and projects funded by UNDP, OECD member states, FAO, and the World Bank. In Cape Verde (Santiago Island), he led a team of engineers and technicians who designed and implemented a very successful pilot drip irrigation project that produced bananas, fruit trees, pineapple and garden vegetables and helped establish farmer cooperatives.
Mr. Le Bloas holds a Civil Engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs des Arts et Industries de Strasbourg (ENSIAS). Mr. Le Bloas is fluent in French and English. Top
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FAISAL ABU-IZZEDIN Mr. Abu-Izzeddin is a biodiversity and protected areas management specialist with 25 years of experience working in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Libya, Syria and Lebanon, with funding agencies such as USAID, UNDP, GEF, UNEP, UNESCO, UNOPS, FAO, ESCWA, and IUCN. He has proven experience in the establishment and management of protected areas, the development of protected area management plans and training programs, and the elaboration of national biodiversity strategies and action plans. As ECODIT’s Chief of Party (COP) for the USAID-funded Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) project, Mr. Abu-Izzedin is leading a team of 15 long-term professionals, as well as a dozen of US and local organizations, working to establish the LMT, a 300 km national hiking trail crossing 56 mountain communities, three legally-protected areas, forests and valleys, and dozens of historic and archaeological sites. The LMT will follow a carefully-delineated path to adventure and discovery that will enable the voyager to experience first hand the authentic natural beauty, culture and history of Lebanon’s mountains and its diverse rural communities. Mr. Abu-Izzeddin is regarded as the father of the Protected Areas Project in Lebanon. He spent three months in the field selecting areas suitable for conservation throughout Lebanon and then wrote the project document “Strengthening of National Capacity and Grassroots In-Situ Conservation for Sustainable Biodiversity Protection” in Lebanon that provided the basis for a $2.5 million grant from the Global Environment Facility/UNDP to set up and manage a system of parks in Lebanon. He then served as Project Manager on the project from 1997-2001 during which he established management teams for each area and conducted extensive field training. Based on that project’s success, he was later appointed Team Leader of the GEF/World Bank “Conservation of Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project’’ in Slenfe, Syria. His recent consulting work includes World Heritage Training Modules for UNESCO/IUCN, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for the State of Qatar, and the Final Evaluation of the Biodiversity Planning Support Programme for UNDP/UNEP all of which required extensive site visits and consultations with a wide spectrum of public and private stakeholders.
Mr. Abu-Izzeddin holds a BS and MS in Agriculture/Animal Science as well as certificates in “Park Interpretive Skills” and “International Parks Seminar” from the U.S. Park Service/Parks Canada. He holds a US citizenship and has an excellent command of Arabic and English. Top
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OSAMA ABU-RAYYAN Mr. Abu-Rayyan is an environmental economist with 10 years of experience in environmental planning, wastewater treatment, water reuse and irrigation, soil and water resources management. He has provided expertise on cost recovery, environmental assessment, and institutional development and strengthening for local governments, USAID, UN agencies, World Bank, and private consulting firms. He has extensive experience in the Middle East, particularly in Jordan, Asia, and Europe. Mr. Abu-Rayyan is currently the Technical Coordinator/Environmental Economist and Deputy Chief of Party for the Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Small Communities project (the Small Communities project) implemented by ECODIT for USAID and the Water Authority of Jordan. In this capacity, he has led the preparation of feasibility studies and environmental assessments for the pilot wastewater treatment and reuse projects to serve Shobak and its region and North Shouneh and its region. He has also participated actively in the detailed design and tender document preparation for the construction of these two pilot plants. He is working closely with the Water Authority of Jordan, and the Municipalities of Shobak and North Shouneh, to draft and finalize General Agreements that spell out the roles of WAJ and the two municipalities in plant ownership, construction, and Operation & Maintenance. He will help build capacity of (1) the two municipalities to manage, operate and maintain the two treatment and reuse plants, and (2) WAJ to monitor plant operations and treatment performance. During the preparation of the EIA of Aqaba’s wastewater treatment plant, he worked closely with the team in charge of upgrading the plant. For two USAID-funded projects, he developed economic models that valued the impacts of water quality degradation on agriculture in the Jordan Valley and Amman, Jordan. For the European Commission, he was the principal coordinator of a three-year tri-lateral water and environmental database and integrated management plan developed for the Jordan River Basin. In addition to providing theoretical and practical insights on the operation of water and wastewater utilities, he assisted in developing water balances and financial models for decision makers. He conducted the financial review of over 20 water and sanitation investments considered by the Danube Black Sea (DABLAS) initiative and an economic assessment of a three-year $8 million participatory rural water and sanitation investment project in the West Bank. Top
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DAVID TYE Mr. Tye is an environmental scientist with four years of experience in international development both in the field and providing home office support. Mr. Tye has proven experience in providing project backstopping and administrative support for several USAID-funded projects over the past two years with ECODIT. He provides home office support for the ongoing Small Communities Project in Jordan, the Lebanon Mountain Trail Project, and a Cleaner Production Training Project in Mali. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania, Mr. Tye has developed skills in implementing successful, sustainable community-development projects in areas as diverse as natural resource management, agriculture, and health. He has worked with local communities to develop and implement dozens of natural resource conservation and community development projects. To encourage long-term sustainable forestry practices, he worked with local farmers to plant thousands of native and non-native tree species to be used for soil conservation, lumber, firewood, and nutrition. He worked with several village governments to extend the piped water system for the villages in Nyololo Ward. He has worked closely with local farmers in beekeeping and fish pond projects to promote forestry conservation and provide income generating opportunities for poor members in the area. He trained local women’s groups in the construction of fuel efficient stoves to reduce firewood consumption. Mr. Tye holds a BS in Environmental Science, and is currently studying for his MA in International Development. He is fluent in English and Swahili. Top
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