Myanmar Young Water Professional Program
Background
The Myanmar Young Water Professional (YWP) Program is a joint Australia–Netherlands venture to support YWPs from government and academia. Twelve YWPs participated in a full-time 1-year training and mentoring program run by the Hydro-Informatics Centre (HIC), where they will continue their work at the conclusion of the program.
Objective
The Program is designed to create the next generation of water leaders in Myanmar by exposing them to a wide range of issues and disciplines that make up the complex picture of integrated water management and river basin planning in the Ayeyarwady.
Outcome
The YWPs participated in a range of exercises to gain an understanding of the comprehensive, collaborative and strategic approach needed to sustainably manage the Ayeyarwady Basin, with some of their experiences contributing to real, tangible outcomes such as the national water law review, the institutional review and the State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA) Report. The exercises included guest seminars and lectures, hands-on training modules, study tours, research, team building, learning “on the job” and learning English.
The Program takes an important step to link with leading global academic institutions from Australia and the Netherlands through a program of certificated short-courses. The courses were implemented by Australia’s International WaterCentre, WaterAid and other Australian and Dutch centres of excellence.
YWPs drew on the SOBA reports to prepare their analysis of water issues and management responses in their final projects, making them one of the first users of SOBA since it was launched at the Asia-Pacific Water Summit in December 2017.
Program Lead
WaterAid
Penny Dutton, Country Director
REGION
South-East Asia
COUNTRY
ORIGIN OF DEMAND
Government of Myanmar
PARENT PROJECT
Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management
RELATED ACTIVITIES
- AIRBM: Young Water Professionals Program
- World Bank: Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management Project
STATUS
Active (Mar 2017 – May 2018)
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
- Myanmar Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems
- World Bank
- Hydro-Informatics Centre