Mamoun Besaiso is a visionary program manager with over 21 years of experience leading complex projects funded by various international donors. He has worked in Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, and the US, and has experience in infrastructure development, procurement, project management, monitoring and evaluation, emergency response, economic development, working with NGOs, vocational training, skills development, entrepreneurship, and women's empowerment. He is recognized internationally for his contributions to developing project management standards and practices.

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Mamoun Besaiso
Mr. Besaiso is a visionary program manager with 21 years of rich experience. He
has track-record experience leading complex undertakings funded by different donors
like USAID, World Bank, European Union, UN agencies (UNRWA, ILO, UNOPS,
UNFPA), IDB, GIZ, DfID, ETF, DANIDA, DCA, ICRC, CARE, SIDA, CIDA, AFD,
SDC, Drosos, Oxfam, JICA, etc. Over two decades he has accumulated a thorough
understanding and diversified experience in international development.
Geographically, he worked in Palestine, Egypt, Yemen and USA. He is native
Arabic speaker with good command of English language.
Key Qualifications:
Engineering / Infrastructure
He has solid experience working on many infrastructure & buildings projects. Currently he is managing a USD
200 million grant for reconstruction of infrastructure. He managed different infrastructure programs funded by
the World Bank & EU. He conducted assessment studies for different sectors; shelter, sanitation, energy,
transportation, schools, clinics, and youth centers. He conducted Value for Money Audit (VMA) for 21
infrastructure projects. Also, he worked on assessment of Sewage Treatment Plant project funded by The
World Bank. He is a professional trainer where he delivered hundreds of training hours for engineers.
Procurement, Contract Administration & Arbitration
He has thorough experience managing international contracts; World Bank, FIDIC, etc. He managed many
major procurement activities and developed procurement manuals for many agencies. He participated in the
World Bank mission to conduct “Country Procurement Assessment Report”. He developed “E-Bidding Solution”
for USD 450 million infrastructure program. He is a certified Arbitrator who served in Palestinian Courts of law
as Expert Witness.
Project Management
He is well-recognized at international level for his solid contribution for development of the Project
Management practice. The Project Management Institute (PMI), USA has recognized his continuous
contribution to the development of international project management standards. His name appears as a
contributor to five international standard practices, namely; Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK) 2004, Practice Standard for Scheduling (2006), PMBOK construction extension (2007), Risk
Management Practice standard (2009), and Project Estimating Practice standard (2010)

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Monitoring, Evaluation & Research
Profound experience in M&E and research as he conducted external evaluation for numerous projects for EU,
DFID, UNRWA, CARE, USAID, UNFPA, Sida, AFSC, Drosos, Terre des hommes (Tdh), ICRC, and QRC. He
conducted many training courses on Monitoring & Evaluation and Field Research. Moreover, he conducted
many sectoral studies, diagnosis studies and needs assessments. He has a solid experience running field
research (quantitative and qualitative) with professional statistical analysis skills.
Post-crisis, Emergency & Early Recovery
He has solid experience in this front as he conducted the damage assessment in Gaza over three wars. In
2010, he conducted the Detailed Damage Assessment for the Private sector (EU/GPSR project). In 2012, he
conducted detailed damage assessment for IDB. In 2014/2015, he served on EU team of expert to develop the
Detailed Needs Assessment (DNA) & Early recovery framework. This rich experience over years, granted him
thorough understanding of the needs and the recovery strategy. He developed the “Emergency Preparedness
Plan” for 15 communities in Gaza in addition to the “Cash Voucher System”. He trained local committees and
volunteers on handling emergency.
Economic Development/Private Sector
Solid experience in Private Sector Development. He assumed a senior position on three USAID funded project
to improve competitiveness based on a cluster approach. He also managed two other projects (EU & IDB)
aiming to revitalize the private sector. As a consultant, he conducted many assessments/diagnosis studies,
export/import studies, trade facilitation, Trade in Services (GATS). He designed and implemented many
interventions to build the capacity of SMEs. He developed strategic plans for private sector organizations and
sectoral marketing plan.
Civil Society Organizations
He has extensive experience working with NGOs at strategic and operational level. This includes Strategic
Planning, Fundraising, Organizational Needs Assessment, Development of Best Practices Manuals,
Stakeholders’ Analysis, Project Cycle Management, Logical Framework Approach (LFA), Participatory Rural
Appraisal, Grants Management, Accountability standards (I-HAP & Sphere), training/facilitation/coaching,
advocacy, networking, social dialogue, gender, and community participation. He was an elected board member
of many CSOs. He is a co-founder of a university graduate one-year diploma “Managing Civil Society
Organizations”.
TVET & Labour Market
He has solid experience in understanding the Labour Market and the TVET sector through leading many tasks
in this front. He conducted Skills Deficit Study, Mapping Study of TVET centers; Labour Market Needs
Assessment, and designed a three-year program for TVET intervention in Gaza. He participated in formulating
three programs for SDC and the EU. He served as regional consultant for GIZ in Egypt to design and formulate
a new TVET project funded by SDC.

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Skills Development & Training
He has excellent experience in design, implementation and management of training programs in different
delivery modes where he designed and delivered more than one thousand hours of training. He experienced
training in various modes; classic room-based training, online training, CD based self-training, and on-job
training using professional procedures in curriculum design and delivery. He is well acquainted of Competency
Based Training (CBT) methodology. He delivered training to different management levels including Country
Managers, Mayors, senior officials, supervisors, junior level and fresh graduates as well.
Entrepreneurship
He has thorough experience in entrepreneurship, youth empowerment, incubation and business start-ups. He
designed and implemented many projects targeting youth empowerment through training, apprenticeship and
entrepreneurship. He served as a consultant, trainer, mentor, judge, key-speaker at many entrepreneurship
schemes. He has international exposure to various models of entrepreneurship.
Gender & Women Empowerment
He has good experience in women empowerment through economic and social inclusion. Also, he engaged in
tackling gender-based violence in rural areas. He conducted Gender-Audit using participatory approach.