LAHORE – The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Board of Governors is delighted to announce the appointment of Simi Kamal as the new Chair of the Board, commencing on 1st January 2024.
Simi Kamal is the Founder and Chairperson of the Hisaar Foundation in Pakistan and also the co-founder of the Panjwani-Hisaar Water Institute at NED University in Karachi. She has led many non-profit and for-profit organizations and networks and has 40 years of extensive experience in the water sector, gender equality, poverty alleviation, food security, climate change, and the environment.
She is a geographer and an alumnus of the University of Cambridge. Her expertise in various sectors has made her a valuable addition to the IWMI Board of Governors.
“I feel honoured and privileged to chair the Board of IWMI—an organization that was instrumental in mentoring me in my early professional growth in water, food and agriculture. I greatly respect IWMI’s global scientific research and hands-on support at the grassroots through its country programs. I look forward to contributing to its strategic positioning and continuing growth as we move forward on our new strategy with One CGIAR,” said Kamal.
Ms. Kamal’s professional experience includes work across Pakistan, South Asia, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Her experience ranges from grassroots institutions and projects to significant national and international water, development and poverty reduction programs. She is a former member of the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of WaterAid UK and CABI UK. She is also on the board of Pakistan’s leading microfinance banks.
“Simi has been instrumental in guiding IWMI’s strategic direction and organizational growth as a member of the IWMI Board since 2018. We are greatly looking forward to working under her leadership as we move toward implementing IWMI’s new 2024-2030 strategy and the next stages of One CGIAR integration,” said Mark Smith, Director General of IWMI.
Simi Kamal succeeds the current Chair, Roberto Lenton, whose term finishes on 31 December 2023. “I am delighted that Simi has agreed to be the next Board Chair of IWMI. This will ensure that the IWMI Board—which was considerably strengthened earlier this year with the appointment of five new members of the IWMI Board and Program Committee—is in safe and experienced hands in the future,” said Lenton. She has been a member of the IWMI Board since February 2018, Chair of the IWMI Program Committee since 2019 and Board Vice Chair since 2021.
