Nathalie Abu-Ata has worked as Operations Officer on a range of World Bank regional technical assistance programs, GEF projects and lending operations, focusing on water reforms and environmental governance. Since 2014, she became a consultant for the Water as well as Environment and Natural Resources Global Practices. Nathalie has conducted extensive policy research and advocated new orientations for sustainable water management, in particular in the MENA region. She was a core team member of the flagship World Bank MENA Development Report on Water “Making the Most of Scarcity: Accountability for Better Water Management Results” (2007). She collaborated on the launch of the Marseille-based Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI), a multi-partner knowledge-based coalition. While at the CMI, she worked on developing common evidence-based solutions to water and environment challenges in the region and addressing key processes governing international and regional cooperation mechanisms. Her graduate studies at Science-Po, Paris focused on political science. She holds a second Master’s degree in Economic Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, New York. She joined the new West Africa Coastal Areas (WACA) technical assistance program from the start and has been traveling to Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mauritania as part of her responsibilities.