This GWP representative works in the interface of the global and regional level and is a resource person who responds to the needs emerging in the regions they oversee and maintains GWP’s network standards at a global level.
In 2022, Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) gained a new Network Specialist, Dr. Yumiko Yasuda who takes over from GWP-C’s former Network Specialist, Ms. Sara Oppenheimer.
Dr. Yumiko Yasuda
Dr. Yasuda is the Senior Network and Transboundary Water Cooperation Specialist at GWP. She is presently the Network Specialist for both GWP-C and GWP Southeast Asia. She joined GWP in 2017, and has been network officer for China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Pan Asia.
In addition to being a Senior Network Specialist, she currently leads GWP’s thematic work on transboundary water, and is the lead faculty of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Transboundary Freshwater Security, where she designed and directed the production of the course.
Her areas of expertise lie in the analysis of water and environmental governance, water diplomacy, political economy analysis surrounding natural resources management, with a focus on transboundary rivers and non-state actors’ engagements in natural resources management. Yumiko brings GWP experiences working in multiple sectors in the field of water and environment including: UNDP-GEF Asia and the Pacific region programme officer, livelihoods specialist for WWF Mekong programme, community based ecotourism advisor in Cambodia, environmental specialist at Ericsson, postdoc researcher on water diplomacy at SIWI, Uppsala University and the Hague Institute for Global Justice.
She obtained her PhD degree from the Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee, MA in environmental policy from the Tufts University, and MSc in Environmental Science from Tsukuba University. Her research on the Mekong has culminated in the publication of a book titled “Rules, Norms and NGO Advocacy Strategies: Hydropower Development on the Mekong River” by Routledge in 2015.
GWP-C is pleased to welcome Dr. Yasuda as its Network Specialist and looks forward to working and learning from her in the implementation of its activities in the Caribbean region.