Mr. Saroj Kumar Jha has been Regional Director of the Mashreq Department (Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Iran) at the World Bank Group from July 1, 2017, and brings to the region vast experience at a critical period of transition.

His top priorities in his new role are maintaining a dialogue with all stakeholders to provide overall strategic leadership for the Bank’s engagement in line with the region's emphasis on job creation, sustainable growth, inclusion, and governance; developing a strong analytical program that can inform policy and investment choices; and building effective, integrated country teams to ensure efficient and high-quality support to the client-focused on results.

In his previous position as senior director for the Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) Global Practice at the World Bank Group he provided strategic leadership in addressing the challenge of fragility, conflict, and violence, working across the World Bank Group and in close collaboration with various partners.

From February 2012 to January 2016 Mr. Jha was the World Bank’s regional director for Central Asia based in Almaty where he led the Bank’s strategic engagements in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in the cooperative management of water and energy, and regional action on climate adaptation and mitigation. He has also worked as the Bank’s Global Manager for the Disaster Risk Management Practice and served as head of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery(GFDRR) which he founded in 2006 and is now the world’s largest global fund for disaster prevention and post-disaster recovery operations.

Mr. Jha is an Indian national and joined the World Bank in 2005 as a senior infrastructure specialist in the Sustainable Development Network having worked for the Government of India from 1990 to 2005, and the United Nations from 1999-2004 as a senior executive in public sector management, infrastructure financing, natural resources management, natural disaster prevention, and environmental sustainability.