Full Name: yasmine-ahmed-hafez
Current Position/ working group : PhD scholar at SOAS University of London.

Short Biography:

I conduct ethnographic and archival research to try and fill gaps usually concealed in transboundary management discourses and practices, particularly related to the Nile River. In my masters, I conducted fieldwork in Addis Ababa, where I focused on analyzing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) through analysing the country’s historical, economic, and social grievances, recognizing the pivotal role these grievances played in shaping the socio-political aspects of the dam’s construction. This allowed me to engage in conversations about water, memory, and identity that were often absent from public discourse. I hold a Master of Arts (MA) degree with distinction in Conflict, Governance, and International Development from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Prior to that, I obtained my Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Political Science with double minors in Economics and Community Development from the American University in Cairo (AUC).

My PhD thesis, titled “A Lakeview: Flipping the Coin beyond the Politics of Scarcity and States’ Conflict in the Nile,” is the result of extensive fieldwork conducted in various fishing hubs around Lake Victoria in Uganda and Kenya and the transboundary wetland in-between, as well as in Egypt around the Delta Lakes namely: Lake Burullus, Lake Mariout, and Lake Edko. Through this research, I am delving into the colonial histories of these lakes, the neoliberal interventions that have shaped these water bodies, and the fishermen’s everyday experiences amidst the growing threats of climate change.