This full scholarship program is a four-month in-person certificate course at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand, intends for activists and politicians whose activities are being restricted. This course will assist them to reflecting on their experiences, planning for the future, and provide an opportunity to upgrade their knowledge during such a difficult time.
Students will also have a chance to share their learning reflections and experiences as a paper by the end of the program.
Ohnmar Nyunt @ Alison
August 2023 Intake
Ohnmar Nyunt @ Alison holds an MA in International Development Studies from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. She has been with Heinrich Böll Stiftung as Democracy Program Coordinator of the Myanmar office since 2017 and works on promoting media developments, digital rights, digital security, and freedom of speech as well as gender and LGBTI* rights in Myanmar.
The current political crisis rolled back all the hard-fought gains in recent years. The situation has been getting worse as the space for civil societies is getting small and risky. The citizens, especially women and youth are starting to see their future fading before their eyes as the peace, political and economic rights they enjoyed for a decade are rapidly disappearing. However, under this tightened situation, civil societies and pro-democracy activists (including gender rights activists) are supported to fight back for the rights of the people in every possible way. Therefore, this is the right time for me to join Gender and Development Studies to learn decent theories and gender approaches to practice in her daily tasks and projects. Looking very much forward to learning from the studies and sharing with peers, and furthermore looking forward to expanding more networks for future collaboration.
Su Wai Myint
August 2023 Intake
Su Wai Myint is a student in the certificate program of Gender and Development Studies (GDS) at the Asia Institute of Technology. My study interest is gender equality in a political system or political economy. Before studying at AIT, I received master degrees in political economy from the University of Sydney and public administration from the Yangon Institute of Economics. I worked as a political and economic analyst at UNDP- Myanmar for over two years, where she contributed to assessment reports of UNDP- Poverty Report 2021 and Myanmar People’s Pulse 2021- monitoring the socio-economic situation of Myanmar after the military coup. Before that, I was part of a technical secretariate team of the Myanmar Peace Center, a semi-government organization supporting the ceasefire negotiation and peace-building of the government of Myanmar from 2012 to 2015. During her early career, she worked in humanitarian aid and agriculture value-chain development in Myanmar.
Recognizing the importance of gender issues in different development contexts, I have a great interest in promoting gender equality in public policymaking and analyzing gender situations in the political economy of my country under political and economic crises. I believe that this study is an opportunity to upgrade her knowledge and ability to become a gender-sensitive political economist.
