World Bank appoints first female country director in Philippines
An Australian environmental engineer has been announced as the World Bank’s first female country director in the Philippines.
Mara Warwick, who has has expertise in flood management, urban development, urban environmental services, and disaster risk management, took up her new post yesterday.
She replaces Motoo Konishi, who retired recently after 35 years of service at the World Bank.
In the Philippines, Warwick, who has worked for the World Bank since 2003, will be managing a growing portfolio of projects that support the country’s goal of promoting and sustaining inclusive growth.
Prior to her appointment as country director in the Philippines, Warwick served as the World Bank’s portfolio and operations manager for China, Mongolia and Korea, based in Beijing.
In this role, she supported the Chinese government’s expansion into technically complex programmes and projects including climate change mitigation and adaptation, rehabilitation of contaminated land, and social service reform.
Warwick previously worked as the World Bank’s sector coordinator for sustainable development in Ankara, Turkey.
She has also coordinated the World Bank’s development policy and investment lending in the energy, environment, urban and rural development, transport and social development (health, education) sectors in the Europe and Central Asia region.
Between 2003 and 2009, she managed water supply, wastewater, solid waste and flood management projects in China and the Philippines.
Warwick said: “It’s a great honour for me to return to the Philippines and be a part of the country’s steadfast efforts to address extreme poverty and promote prosperity that is shared by all Filipinos.
“The World Bank remains a long-term and committed partner of the Philippines in this endeavour.”
Before joining the World Bank, Warwick worked in the private sector as a consultant engineer.
She received her B.E. in civil engineering from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Stanford University in the US.
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About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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