Waddah Hamdy

Waddah Hamdy is a regional development expert of Egyptian nationality with 15 years of professional experience in the areas of capacity development of civil society organizations and NGO support. He has been working for different USAID-funded long term assignments as Program Director and Capacity Development Specialist, Trainer and Civic Dialogue Advisor in Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He is especially knowledgeable in grants management and the entire process and tools of managing, promoting, assessing, supporting and monitoring projects funded under mechanisms of major doners . He has in-depth experience in selecting applicants, assessing their performance and in promoting participation of organizations while empowering them to comply with the criteria, rules and regulations. His main asset is extensive experience in training, capacity building and coaching CSOs and NGOs in the process of proposal application and project implementation, beginning in 1998 as grants officer in Egypt managing the provision of USAID grants to NGOs and CSOs operating in civil society, advocacy, environment, youth, gender, literacy etc. and institutional development training for them. Further, he has been responsible for training measures in fundraising and organizational performance for NGOs in Egypt between 2000 and 2003 and in 2009 on small grants capacity development for CSOs in Afghanistan, continuing currently this task as advisor for NGOs in that aspect in Egypt.

He is well familiar with project cycle management through his responsibilities as Regional Manager in Iraq from 2004 – 2006 for a USAID-funded Civil Society Strengthening Program and his post as program Director in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012 for the Voter Education Program. His responsibilities have always included project monitoring and evaluation techniques which he has also developed and adapted to his work with NGOs and CSOs.

Throughout his career, he has been close to international NGOs which have also a field presence in the region and next to Syria, and especially to local governments. He has successfully capacitated numerous NGOs and CSOs in Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan towards fundraising and organizational development in order to enable them to access grants, showing excellent communication skills in Arabic and English with the organizations themselves, but also with local governments and international donor representatives.