Dr. Eng. Lugard Ogaro

Professional Summary

Dr. Eng. Lugard Ogaro is a Kenyan civil engineer, WASH and infrastructure specialist, and disaster management professional with more than 22 years of experience across East and Horn of Africa. His work combines civil engineering, water and sanitation systems, emergency WASH, public and community infrastructure, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, program leadership, resource mobilization, and complex system modelling. He has held senior technical and leadership roles with organizations including Mercy Corps, Danish Refugee Council, UNDP, DAI-USAID KIWASH, Save the Children, PACT Sudan, Action Against Hunger, and several consulting assignments. His experience includes managing multi-sectoral programs, designing WASH and infrastructure interventions, supporting donor-funded resilience and development programs, strengthening water governance, mobilizing multi-million-dollar resources, and building partnerships with governments, donors, private-sector actors, and civil society organizations. He is particularly strong in sustainable WASH services, infrastructure quality assurance, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, market-systems approaches, and locally driven solutions for poverty reduction and systemic change.

Key Expertise

Major Projects and Contributions

• WASH Technical Advisor – SOMOUD Additional Financing, Sudan
  Served as WASH Technical Advisor for the Sudan SOMOUD Enhancing Community Resilience Project, a World Bank-managed Multi-Donor Trust Fund program implemented by Mercy Corps in Gedaref, Sudan. Supported WASH needs assessment tools, procurement planning, subcontracting of local engineering firms, quality-control systems, WASH supplies, rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure, and onboarding of WASH teams and contractors.
• Startup Lead – SMART Resilience Program, Darfur Region of Sudan
  Led startup activities for the Strengthen Markets, Agroecology, Resilience and Employment program in Sudan, an EC-funded food security and resilience program. Supported program setup, MEL, staffing, redesign due to changing context, partnership engagement with LNGOs and private actors, compliance coordination, and baseline evaluation preparation.
• Acting Regional Director and Senior Advisor – One Earth Future, East and Horn of Africa
  Provided regional leadership and strategic advisory support for One Earth Future programs in East and Horn of Africa, including oversight of Somalia programs, partnership engagement, donor relations, country support, strategic planning, regional growth planning, and development of concept notes on urban green growth and inclusive governance.
• Director of Programs – Mercy Corps Somalia
  Served as Director of Programs for Mercy Corps Somalia, leading emergency, early recovery and development programming. Responsibilities included country strategy development, partnerships with government and donors, resilience programming, market-system approaches, MEAL and accountability systems, emergency preparedness planning, budget controls, risk analysis, and management of senior program teams across the country.
• Chief of Party – DANIDA Durable Solutions Program, Somalia
  Provided leadership to a three-year DANIDA-funded durable solutions program implemented by Danish Refugee Council and partners. Managed technical direction, consortium coordination, donor and government relations, advocacy, financial and administrative deliverables, monitoring and learning systems, and Covid-19 response reprogramming that secured additional funding.
• WASH and Infrastructure Technical Manager – Danish Refugee Council Somalia
  Provided technical direction for WASH, shelter, community infrastructure and engineering support across DRC Somalia programs. Supported fundraising, proposal review, implementation quality control, cluster engagement, field staff mentorship, monitoring and evaluation, donor compliance, and environmental requirements for emergency, solutions and root-cause programming.
• WASH Governance Manager – DAI-USAID KIWASH, Kenya
  Worked on the Kenya Integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Project, supporting sustainable WASH services through governance strengthening, market-based approaches, county-level capacity assessments, water and sanitation planning, budgeting, water security planning, institutional reform, service provider performance, citizen participation, and collaboration with government and donor actors.
• Engineering Specialist – UNDP Somalia
  Served as Engineering Specialist supporting UNDP Somalia projects in transition-to-development contexts. Work included design of civil and building infrastructure, technical assessments, BOQ development, tender analysis, construction and contract management, monitoring and reporting, and infrastructure support to ministries, municipalities and public institutions.
• Country WASH and Infrastructure Technical Manager / WASH Coordinator – Danish Refugee Council Somalia
  Provided country-level WASH and infrastructure leadership for emergency and early recovery programs in Somalia, including technical guidelines, proposals, monitoring plans, quality assurance, contract management, infrastructure design, partner capacity building, DRR integration into WASH facilities, WASH cluster technical support, and coordination with government and humanitarian actors.
• Country Infrastructure Manager and USAID Program Manager – Mercy Corps Somalia/Somaliland
  Led infrastructure and school sanitation programming for Mercy Corps Somalia/Somaliland, including construction and rehabilitation of schools, classrooms, water points, latrines, waste-disposal facilities, community markets, shallow wells, boreholes, water kiosks and other emergency-response infrastructure. Provided technical support and quality assurance to consortium partners and local NGOs.
• Water, Sanitation and Construction Consultancy – Sudan, South Sudan and Kenya
  Worked with organizations including Save the Children, PACT Sudan, Action Against Hunger, University of Nairobi Enterprise Services, USAID/USDA University of Missouri contract, and Koinonia Community in roles covering Watsan engineering, rainwater harvesting, water-source management, environmental assessment, construction management, staff facilities, schools, boreholes, water structures and community mobilization.
• Consultancy and Evaluation Work in Water, Climate and Infrastructure
  Conducted and contributed to multiple consultancy assignments including IFAD/MAFS proposal writing for South Sudan, climate-resilient water solutions for Somalia, evaluation of the Northern Collector Tunnel water project in Kenya, DRIP FUNDI drought-resilience evaluation, GIZ infrastructure investment and TVET work in Kenya, Juba Water management manuals, and disaster risk management in water-supply networks.
• Research and Publications in Water Security, WASH and Infrastructure
  Authored and contributed to research and publications on water service provision and water security in informal settlements in Nairobi, peri-urban water and sanitation infrastructure in Hargeisa, rainfall-runoff modelling in the Upper Athi River Basin, strategic environmental assessment for river engineering, environmental audits, WASH evaluations, and urban water-sector monitoring.