This curriculum vitae provides details about Khin Ni Ni Thein's education and professional experience. She has over 35 years of experience in water resources and has held various high-level positions, including with UNESCO and the Asian Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. in hydroinformatics from IHE Delft and has extensive international experience working in projects across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Currently, she serves as Secretary of the Advisory Group to Myanmar's National Water Resources Committee and is a professor at Yangon Technological University.

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[KHIN NI NI THEIN]: [PROF. DR. Mrs.] [Curriculum Vitae]
PERSONAL DETAILS:
NAME: KHIN NI NI THEIN
DATE OF BIRTH: 9 APRIL 1959
GENDER: FEMALE
PARENTS: U MAUNG MAUNG THEIN AND DAW KHIN MYINT
MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED WITH 3 SONS
PLACE OF BIRTH: YANGON, MYANMAR
RELIGION: BUDDHIST
ADDRESS: NO. (97/1-A) ZINYAW STREET, MYINTHAR, S/OKKALAPA, YANGON, MYANMAR
TEL.: +95-9-5111880
EMAIL: AIWEB.LEAD@GMAIL.COM
EDUCATION:
 1994: Ph.D. in Hydroinformatics/fluvial hydraulics, specializing in morphological
modelling. International Institute for Infrastructural, Hydraulic and Environmental
Engineering (IHE), Delft, The Netherlands, in collaboration with Danish Hydraulic
Institute (DHI), Horّsholm, Denmark. Thesis entitled: River plan-form movement in an
alluvial plain.
 1989: M.Sc. in Computational Hydraulics. IHE, Delft in collaboration with Delft
Hydraulics. Thesis entitled: One dimensional morphological modelling of graded
sediments.
 1988: Dip. H.E. (with Distinction) in Computational Hydraulics. IHE, Delft. Thesis
entitled: Model study in supercritical flow conditions.
 1984: M.Eng. (with Distinction) in Water Resources Planning and Development
Engineering. Yangon Technological University (YTU), Myanmar. Thesis entitled:
Optimum use of Water Resources and Economic Analysis for Ngalaik Dam Project.
Further Study Certificates:
1. Integrated Water Resources Management (1989)
2. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (1991)
3. Delta Development Plan for Mega Deltas (1991)
4. Gender and Water (2000)
5. Result-based Management by UN HQ (2002)
6. Team Building for Senior Executives (2008)
7. “5Es” Engineering New Paradigm (2010)
8. Climate Change Adaptation in the Water Resources Management (2011)
9. Public Policy Making Process (2012)
10. Green Economy and Green Growth (2012)
11. Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and Water Goals (2013, 2014,
2015)
LANGUAGES: Burmese, English and Dutch

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COUNTRIES OF WORK EXPERIENCE: Myanmar (1978-1993), The Netherlands (1994-2002),
Denmark (1989-1991), Kenya (2002-2004), Germany (2000) (2003-2005), France (2005-
2006), Thailand (2005-2009), Belgium (2010-2011), and Myanmar again from 2011 to date.
EXPERIENCE SUMMARY:
2013 – To Date: Secretary of Advisory Group and Member of the National Water Resources
Committee, Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
Prof. Thein has contributed to the economic and political reforms of Myanmar as a high profile
public intellectual. Thereby creating the Advisory Group to support the National Water
Resources Committee and currently undertaking the duties as Member of the National Water
Resources Committee and Secretary of the Advisory Group. All those work have been done in
FOC (free of charge) basis. She also drafted the Myanmar National Water Framework Directive
and held public consultation meetings together with the Advisory Group Members. At present
the Myanmar National Water Framework Directive has been completed with endorsement from
the six public consultative meetings. She is renowned water professional recognized by lay
peoples of Myanmar and the Government of Myanmar, which makes her role essential in trust
building process during the drafting period of the National Water Law.
2011-2013: Convening Member, Green Economy and Green Growth, Myanmar
2010-2011: Senior Professor, University of Group T Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
2005-2009: Vice President for Development and Resources at the Asian Institute of Technology
(AIT, http://www.ait.asia)
2008- To Date: Visiting Senior Professor at Civil Engineering Department, Yangon
Technological University, Yangon, Myanmar.
As visiting senior professor, she is currently teaching specialized subjects in Water Ph.D. course
and post graduate diploma courses for Environmental Engineering and Environmental Planning
and Management in the Civil Engineering Department at the Yangon Technological University
in Myanmar. Prof. Thein revived the Ph.D. programme in water at YTU together with staff
members. She has co-promoted 3 Ph.D. students from YTU and 5 Ph.D. students from MTU
already. Currently she is co-supervising 4 Ph.D. students from Mandalay Technological
University.
2006 – To Date: Board Member of IRAH, International Research Associates for Happy
Societies.
2005-2006: Chief of Sustainable Water Resources Section, Division of Water Sciences,
UNESCO HQ, Paris, France.
2003-2006: Visiting Professor (senior level), University of Suderburge and University of
Luneburg, Germany.

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2004-2005: Senior Advisor to Minister of Water Resources, Hon. Mrs. Martha Karua, Cabinet
Member, Government of Kenya.
2002-2004: Senior Advisor to Dams and Development Project, Division of Environmental
Planning and Implementation, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi HQ,
Kenya.
2000-2002: Guest Professor on the Integrated Environment and Water Resources Management
course, DHI, Institute for Water and Environment, Horّsholm, Denmark.
1997-2002: Founder and President of an educational NGO Water, Research and Training Centre
(WRTC).
1995-1997: Research fellow in Hydraulic Engineering Department, IHE, Delft, The Netherlands.
1994-1995: Post-doctoral researcher, Hydroinformatics Department, UNESCO-IHE,
Delft, The Netherlands.
1989-1994: She did her Ph.D. in Denmark and the Netherlands (a collaborative Ph.D. project);
Thesis title, “River Plan-form Movement in an Alluvial Plain”.
1987-1989: Studies in UNESCO-IHE, Postgraduate Diploma in Computational Hydraulics and
Masters Degree in Computational Hydraulics specialized in non-graded Sediment transportation
modeling.
1984-1993: worked at Civil Engineering Department, Yangon Technological University starting
from demonstrator position to senior lecturer position.
Other self-acquired experiences in development fields of studies and social sciences sector
After the Ph.D. degree, she could read gender related books, lecture notes and at times sitting in
the class rooms together with friends who officially enrolled the classes for development studies
and social science subjects. In 1997 she formed an NGO for Myanmar based in the Netherlands
and start working on mainstreaming gender issues in the water sector. The second world water
forum in The Hague in 2000 was the birth place of Gender and Water Alliance, in which Dr.
Thein is the Founding elected steering committee member. After that she also participated
actively in Vision 21 regional consultation process especially on the subject of mainstreaming
gender in the Water and Sanitation (at that time it was abbreviated as WatSan). Dr. Thein worked
for Gender Mainstreaming in Water and Sanitation consistently alongside with all her formal
responsibilities. After joining the UNESCO in 2005 as Chief of Sustainable Water Management
Section, she represented UNESCO at the Intergovernmental Working Group for Gender. She
was also assigned to represent UNESCO in UN Water, however, Myanmar students from Asian
Institute of Technology (AIT) requested her to join AIT in order to increase the access for
scholarships, also to ease the sanctions, for Myanmar students.
She then complied and resigned from UNESCO position but continued working on promotion of
Gender Mainstreaming in the Water Sector. In 2008-2009 she initiated a summer institute for

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Gender and Water with Gender and Development Department at AIT. Due to global recession in
2008 donors could not comply with the pledges and the summer institute project was delayed.
Dr. Thein continued working for gender mainstreaming in water and sanitation sector inside
Myanmar since 2003 to date. The Water, Research and Training Centre (WRTC) has produced
250 alumni to date and all of them took gender and water module. She is committed to capacity
development in the area of water resources management, water supply and sanitation and gender.
She has written and presented a number of papers on the same subject. She also initiated and
convened gender sessions at the successive world water forums and 10th
anniversary Congress of
the Transparency International in 2001 in Prague. She works with passion and understanding.
Hence she has been accepted by both the government of Myanmar and the lay peoples of
Myanmar due to her pure devotion on capacity building in apolitical nature and development for
young graduates and grassroots peoples.
Professional Background:
She has total 35 years of experience in the water sector. During that long period intensely
working in the water sector, she has gone through many stages of development and capacity
building in Africa, Asia and Europe. She worked in Myanmar, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany,
Kenya, Thailand and Belgium. Prof. Thein has undertaken technical and administrative missions
for last 20 years that covered more than 50 countries in five continents. She has facilitated and
chaired many sessions at international conferences, world summits, forums and workshops
including series of world water forums from 2 to 7. Integrated Water Resources Management,
River Basin Organisations Management, Water Governance, and Education for Sustainable
Development under global change, and Climate Change Science are her main research
interests/expertises. Capacity building, project preparation and result-based management,
networking and application of Hydroinformatics through Information and Communication
Technology (ICT)) also include as the main areas of her work. Prof. Thein won few awards for
her outstanding contribution in the field of technical education including Maria-Goeppert-Mayer
award from Germany. She has written and published five theses and more than 60 papers. From
2011 to date she has become a public speaker for water issues and contributed at various fora, at
least once a month and at times 2 to 3 times a month. She is a longstanding member of
International Professional Associations and Civil Society Organisations. Currently she is serving
as board member of the International Research Associates for Happy Societies
(http://www.happysociety.org) and steering committee member of the Global Water Partnership.
From 2004-2010 she undertook the duties as the external advisory group member for the
Mekong Programme on Water, Environment and Resilience (M-POWER) http://www.sea-
user.org/mweb.php?pg=63. She is member of Asian Peace Builders and promoter of Water and
Peace initiative in Myanmar. Since 2002 she has studied public policy research and promoted
gross national happiness (GNH) philosophy, literature and approaches.
Current activities
Currently active in Community water capacity building toward communities of practice in water
sharing, sanitation and hygiene, WASH project, promotion of the idea of community of learning
into community of practice; activities for Rainwater Harvesting National Project and Water
Mothers Organization; knowledge management facilitator for individuals, organisations
/institutions and River Basin Organisations (RBOs), and Training of the Trainers (TOT)

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Workshops; founded the Ayeyarwady River Basin Research Organisation (ARBRO) and Water
Mothers Organization in 2012; continuously contributing to the Post-2015 SDGs and Water
Goals drafting process; very active and well established in social media (Face Book, Linked in
and other virtual forums).
List of core competencies:
 Excellent analytical, written and oral communication skills and strong ability to advocate
and defend difficult issues to government officials, private sector representatives, interest
groups, NGOs, academia and grassroots people and others.
 Outstanding interpersonal skills and proven track record of building and managing teams
and encouraging innovation in an open team-based environment – attended the executive
level training course on “Leading the Team” in 2008 and practiced ever since.
 A track record of contributing global knowledge on water resources since 1987, and
demonstrated thought leadership in this area since 2002.
 Broad and first rate knowledge of global water resources and hydropower development
issues with prior work experience in the UNESCO-IHE, Delft, United Nations
Environment Programme and UNESCO; firsthand experience on optimization of water
use and crop water requirements for irrigated areas and dam construction in a least
developing country.
 Sustainability issues and climate change and water issues – knowledge and technology
transfer, knowledge management.
 Working harmoniously with multidisciplinary, multicultural environment since 1987.
 Promoting transcultural research and learning to groom the next generation water
professionals – contributing to the curricula development of IWRM international
graduate course and International Women’s University in the project area Water.
 Ability to effectively plan and manage to ensure high quality and timely delivery of
results – attended the result-based management RBM training in 2003 and practiced ever
since.
 Ability to represent at the senior level on behalf of the Heads of institutions and
organizations in the international arena and international diplomatic circle.
 Organizing, facilitating, convening and chairing the international conferences and key
sessions of world summits and forums.
 Down to Earth team player and willingness to follow the good advice from juniors and
seniors alike – strong commitment to create a harmonious work place while maintaining
the standards of quality, efficiency and accuracy.

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
1. From 2011 to date, for 5 years, contributed at least one seminar/conference paper/month; list
of publications for this period available upon request. Some are published on Internet at Slide
Share domain.
2. 2010 “Civil Engineering’s Role in Climate Change Adaptation”, presented at the
Second International Conference on Science and Engineering (ICSE 2010),
Yangon, Myanmar, 2-3 Dec. 2010
3. 2010 “Transcultural Science from the perspective of International
Organizations”, Khin Ni Ni Thein and Brigitte Urban, International Conference on
“From Internationalization of Higher Education Institutions to Transcultural
Science”, Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Germany, 16-18 Sept. 2010
4. 2009 “Six paths to Green Growth and relevant science and engineering capacity
development in Myanmar", presented at the first International Conference on
Science and Engineering (ICSE 2009), Yangon, Myanmar, 1-4 Dec. 2009
5. 2009 “Space Technology for Food Security after Nargis Cyclone in Myanmar”,
Khin Ni Ni Thein and Khin Maung Nyunt, the Second International Conference on
Geoinformation Technology for Natural Disaster Management, Bangkok, Thailand,
30-31 Jan. 2009
6. 2008 “Hydroinformatics for Asia”, presented at the First International Conference
on Human Resources and the Country’s Structure, Islamic Azad University,
Esfahan, Iran, 28-29 May 2008
7. 2006 “Mass Customized Advice-serving Systems in Hydroinformatics”, coauthor
with M.B. Abbott and Yan Huang, submitted to the 7th International Conference on
Hydroinformatics, 4-8 Sept. 2006, Nice, France.
8. 2003 “Who is to decide in the Water Sector”, co-author, M.B. Abbott, Proc. XXX
IAHR Congress, Thessaloniki.
9. 2000 "The gender issue in Hydroinformatics: pragmatic aspects", co-author, M.B.
Abbott, the fourth international conference 'Hydroinformatics 2000', 23-27 July
2000, Iowa, USA.
10. 2000 "Water, research and training centre exhibition, a poster presentation", at
the second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference, March 17-22, 2000,
The Hague, the Netherlands.
11. 1999 "Mainstreaming Gender Participation as an Essential Component of a

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Knowledge Management System in the Integrated Water Resources Management
in the 21st century", Vision 21 - Asia Regional Consultation meeting, Bangkok,
24-26 Sept. 1999.
12. 1998 “People, development and environment”, paper presented to the Asien
Werkstatt Tage, "Culture, People & Nature" conference in Berlin, Germany on 9-
11 October 1998.
13. 1998 “Intranet-based management of water resources in Burma”, as a joint
author, third International Conference on Hydroinformatics 1998, 26-28 Aug.
1998, Copenhagen, Denmark.
14. 1998 “An overview on social situations, relief and development programmes for
Burma”, a keynote lecture prepared for the Peace conference in Germany, 6-7
June 1998.
15. 1998 “Burma: A country profile and suggestions for the water resources
management ”, paper presented at the Symposium on Integrated Water Resources
Management for Selected Top Asian Decision-makers and Experts, 11-16 May
1998, Taichung, Taiwan R.O.C.
16. 1997 “Concern over the debt relief”, a proposal presented in person to the
second Global assembly entitled “We, peoples of the United Nations”, 9-12
October 1997, Perugia, Italy.
17. 1997 “Fundamental principles, objectives, and citizens’ participation on water
policy for Burma”, Conference on “The International Conference on the protection
of environment”, 28-30 July 1997, Bangkok, Thailand.
18. 1995 “Numerical simulations of dunes using physical model concepts”, XXVIth
IAHR Congress Hydra 2000, Volume I, pp 206-211.
19. 1995 “Holistic way of modelling rivers”, XXVIth IAHR Congress Hydra 2000,
Volume IV, pp 106-121.
[Only the short list was presented above.]
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES:
 Chairperson of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Thematic Working Group in
Myanmar(2011) and also in July-Sept 2012
 Convening Group Member of the GEGG Group, Green Economy and Green Growth in
Myanmar
 External Advisory Group member of Mekong Programme on Water, Environment and
Resilience (M-POWER) for six GMS countries (2004-2010)
 Board member of of International Research Associates for Happy Society (IRAH)(2009
to date)

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 Steering Committee Member for the organisation of a series of International Conferences
on Science and Engineering (ICSE series) in Yangon, Myanmar (2009 to date)
 International member of Water Integrity Network
(WIN)http://www.waterintegritynetwork.net (2009 to date)
 Member of Asian Peace Builders (2001 to date)
 Board member of the Tambon Kamphuan Community Learning Center, Ranong,
Thailand [i.e. Post Tsunami development effort](2005-2009)
 Council member of the Asian Rural Social Association(2007-2009)
 Founder and President of the Water, Research and Training Center (WRTC) Myanmar
(1997 to date)
 Panel member of the Policy and Practice Panel of the CGIAR CPWF International Forum
(CGIAR = Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research: CPWF=Challenge
Programme on Water and Food) (2008)
 Member of the UN interagency Task Force on Water and Gender (2005-2006)
 In charge of the International Sediment Initiative (ISI) (2005-2006)
 In charge of the International Flood Initiative (IFI) (2005-2006) representing UNESCO
 Member of the UN interagency initiative entitled “International Flood Initiative” and
being in charge for UNESCO part. (2005-2006)
 Steering Committee member elect (2002-2003), "Gender and Water Alliance" global
network, http://www.genderandwateralliance.org
 Cabinet Member of the UN Staff Union in UNON, Nairobi and member of the UN
Grievences Council (2003-2004)
 Member of the Global Water Partnership (2003 to date)
 Member of the end violence against women (1999 to date)
 Member of the one world water think tank (1997 to date)
 Member of the IAHR, International Association for Hydraulic Research (1989 to date)
 Member of the IAHS, International Association for Hydrological Sciences (2010 to date)
 Member of the International Water History Association (IWHA), Norway (2006 to date)
 Member of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA)(1999)
 Moderator and list owner of Hydroinformatics-Asia-Pacific online forum (1999- 2004)
 Member of the Food Security Working Group in Myanmar (2008 to date)
 Founding Member of Myanmar Water Partnership (2008 to date)