Former Executive Council Member, International Association for Water Law (AIDA)

Ariella D'Andrea is a natural resources lawyer specializing in fisheries, aquaculture and water resources law and is currently working with the Pacific Community-SPC. She has been working as legal expert on development projects since 2002, mainly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) but also with other organizations such as the European Union and the World Bank. She has served as Legal Officer in charge of an FAO regional project on water legislation in Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) from 2009 to 2011.

Over the years, Ms D'Andrea's expertise has focused on the review and drafting of natural resources legislation, institutional arrangements, legal publications and country studies, including on water law and governance, water users' associations and irrigation management transfer, customary fisheries and water resources management and, more recently, ocean and river rights. As a member of AIDA's Executive Council, notably, Ms D'Andrea initiated and coordinated the development of an online training course on the ‘greening' of water law, that is now available through the United Nations InforMEA learning platform.

Admitted to the Italian Bar, Ms D'Andrea holds a Law degree (laurea magistrale) and a Master's degree in communication science (master di II livello) from La Sapienza University of Rome. She is fluent in four languages (English, French, Italian and Spanish), which has allowed her to visit over 70 countries worldwide to carry out legal assistance missions or participate in international conferences and meetings on freshwater and aquatic resources law.