WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for the Middle East, Mara Rudman, swore in Azza El-Abd as the new Mission Director for Lebanon.  As Mission Director for Lebanon, Ms. El-Abd will lead development assistance efforts to: improve quality education, water and other public services in Lebanon; strengthen civil society’s ability to promote good governance; and enhance economic opportunity for the poorest segments of Lebanese society. 

"This is a time of transition, challenge and opportunity in the Middle East. It is a time that requires our most talented leaders.  We were fortunate to have Jim Barnhart as Mission Director for the last two years and are equally lucky to have Azza now headed to Lebanon to lead our mission at this critical moment," said Assistant Administrator Rudman.

In this important role as USAID Mission Director for Lebanon, Ms. El Abd will draw upon  more than twenty years of international development experience, designing and managing a broad range of programs in Central America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.  Ms. El-Abd comes to Lebanon after serving as the Deputy and Acting Mission Director in Kosovo for the past two years, where she led one of USAID’s Balkans programs.  Prior to her assignment to Kosovo, Ms. El-Abd served as USAID Washington’s Acting Director of the Office of Central America and Mexico Affairs.  She also served as the Supervisory Program Officer in Pakistan from 2008 to 2009.  Her other USAID experience include overseas tours in Uganda, Hungary, Nepal, and Indonesia, as well as Washington assignments as Deputy Director in the Office of Middle East Affairs and General Development Officer in the Asia and Middle East Bureaus.  Ms. El-Abd holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alexandria in Egypt and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF).