Arafa Mahayadine Salah
Legal Advisor National Water Fund
Arafa Mahayadine Salah is a Chadian water governance professional working with the Fonds National de l’Eau (FNE), where she contributes to strengthening the legal and financial foundations of Chad’s water sector. Her work focuses on mobilizing investment for water through a combination of domestic resources, including water abstraction fees, private-sector partnerships, and international climate and development finance. At the FNE, she works on legal and regulatory frameworks that support sustainable water financing, including the development and review of legal instruments, cost-recovery mechanisms, institutional agreements, and arrangements for accessing international funding. She is particularly interested in how sound legal frameworks can translate water policies into practical and sustainable investments. Her interests also extend to transboundary water governance, international water law, human rights, and water security in the Sahel. She is an alumna of the Young Water Diplomats Programme 2026, where she co-presented research on transboundary water sharing in contexts of territorial conflict. Bilingual in French and English, Arafa brings a Sahelian perspective to global discussions on water governance, diplomacy, and investment, with a strong belief in the value of sharing knowledge and connecting local realities with global solutions.