Awards 

Dr. Omar E. El-Arini

Dr. El-Arini was the first Chief Officer of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol. During his tenure from February 1991 to October 2003, saw near?universal ratification of the Protocol and the Fund's growth from virtually no money to some US$1.5 billion. These funds have been disbursed to over 130 developing countries to assist their compliance with the Protocol's control measures, and have been largely credited with the developing countries' achievement of a 50% reduction in their consumption of one of the most damaging ozone-depleting substances, chlorofluorocarbons.

Dr. El-Arini's service to the Fund included the establishment and leadership of a highly professional Secretariat that has supported the articulation of the policies and procedures for the Fund's operation. This included the operationalization of the incremental costs concept, the promotion of sect oral approaches for ODS phase-out and the introduction of the compliance oriented model as the basis for the Fund business planning.
In recognition of his remarkable contribution to the work of the Multilateral Fund over an extended period since its inception, the Fund's Executive Committee marked his retirement by granting Dr. El-Arini the title of "Honorary Chief Officer".

A national of Egypt, Dr. El-Arini has a B.Sc. degree from Ain Shams University (Egypt), an M.Sc. from the University of Missouri (USA), and Ph.D. from Imperial College of Science and Technology and Medicine (UK).
He is currently a senior advisor to his Government in the areas of the environment and the conservation of Egypt's national patrimony, and is advising the League of Arab States on the establishment of an Arab Environment Facility.

Prior to joining the Fund, Dr. El?Arini held research positions in Egypt, Germany and the Netherlands. He also managed a large portfolio of research projects funded by the USA Government in Egypt.

He has held senior positions in the Government of Egypt, as well as teaching positions in Cairo University and the American University in Cairo.

Mr. Madhava Sarma

Mr. Madhava Sarma has served the Ozone Secretariat from 1991 to 2000 as the Executive Secretary. During his tenure, he served the Parties to the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol through the turbulent meetings, including the Meetings of the Parties to the Protocol in Copenhagen, Vienna, Montreal and Beijing. Some of the key issues resolved at those meetings were the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund and the adjustments and amendments to the Montreal Protocol. He streamlined the administration of the institutions of the Protocol, the reporting requirements and other administrative obligations so that the Parties could devote their full attention to resolving challenging political issues.

Prior to being recruited to head the Secretariat, Madhava Sarma was a senior member of the Indian diplomatic team involved in the negotiations between the first and the second Meetings of the Parties (1989-1991). During this time, he was an effective spokesman for the developing country perspective and co-sponsored many of the provisions of the London Amendment that satisfied the developing countries including on the financial mechanism, while creating enforceable obligations to protect the ozone layer. He made other significant contributions as the senior Indian official looking after environmental policy, law, institutions and international cooperation, including responsibility for all global environmental issues.

Prior to joining the national Government of India, he served in Tamilnadu, one of the states of India, as Head of District Administration, Chief Executive of the Water Supply Board, and as Secretary to the Government, Irrigation and Power. During this State tenure, he was responsible for planning and implementation for many water supply, irrigation and energy projects. He earned the 1996 US EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award and an award from UNEP 'For Extraordinary Contribution to Ozone Layer Protection'. Currently, apart from his many activities in India, he is occasionally serves UNEP as a consultant to on ozone and other environmental issues.