Dr. Asma El Kasmi has been the Director of Cooperation and Communication at the Office National de l'Electricité et de l'Eau Potable (ONEE)-Direction de l'Eau in Morocco since 2014. She is also the vice president of the World Water Council (WWC) based in Marseille, France, since December 2018.
Dr. El Kasmi is an international expert in the fields of electrochemistry, water, environment and sustainable development. With over 25 years of professional experience, his areas of expertise include integrated water resources management, human and institutional capacity building, leadership and change management, international cooperation, R&D and innovation.
From 2009 to 2012, she served as the Executive Director of the Arab Water Academy (AWA), based in Abu Dhabi. Under her leadership, AWA successfully plannedifier, designed, and implemented innovative capacity development programs that targeted key topics to advance integrated water resources management strategies and policies. These programs covered water diplomacy, water governance, demand management, institutional reforms, private sector participation, climate change, and the water-energy nexus.
From 2004 to 2009, she was in charge of international cooperation at the Office National de l'Eau Potable in Morocco (ONEP-now ONEE). From 1992 to 2004, Ms. El Kasmi was a professor and scientific researcher at several major universities in the United States, Europe and Morocco.
Dr. El Kasmi has held the UNESCO Chair on Water, Women and Decision-Making at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, since 2006. In this capacity, she has promoted creative initiatives to build women's capacity in integrated water resources management, with the overall goal of sustainable development and gender equality.
Dr. El Kasmi holds a Ph.D. in electrochemistry (1991) from the University Denis Diderot in Paris and a Ph.D. in bioelectrochemistry and analytical chemistry (2002), obtained through a Fulbright program at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, USA, and the University Mohammed V in Rabat.