Adel Mohamed Darwish

Regional Director for the Arab States

Adel Mohamed Darwish is Regional Director for the Arab States at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), leading the regional office's work across 22 Arab countries on connectivity, digital development and ICT policy. The Kingdom of Bahrain, with the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other Arab states, has put forward his candidacy for ITU Deputy Secretary-General, announcing its backing in July 2025. He has more than 25 years of experience in telecommunications and ICT across the public and private sectors, covering market and competition policy, international regulatory cooperation and digital transformation. He joined the ITU in 2020 after serving as Head of International Relations at Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, and earlier worked at Etisalcom Bahrain and Batelco in business development and product marketing. He chaired the GCC Roaming Working Group from 2009 to 2020 and held leadership roles at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (2014 and 2017) and the Plenipotentiary Conference (2014 and 2018).