Yin Yin Nwe (born c.1952) is a Burmese geologist. She has held important positions with

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

since 1991, and was appointed

Representative to China on 1 December 2006.

Biography

Yin Yin Nwe's father is Sao Saimong Mangrai, a member of the princely

Kengtung State Kengtung ( my, ကျိုင်းတုံ; shn, ၵဵင်းတုင် ''Chiang Tung;'' ), known as Menggen Prefecture ( zh, 孟艮府) or Möng Khün Chiefdom or Mueng Khuen Fu (Tai Khün: ) from 1405 to 1895, was a Shan state ...

and a highly regarded scholar on

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...

and the Head of the Shan State Education Department during the post-Independence years. Yin Yin Nwe's mother is

Mi Mi Khaing Mi Mi Khaing ( my, မိမိခိုင် ; 1916 – 15 March 1990) was a Burmese scholar and writer who authored numerous books and articles on life in Burma during the 20th century. She is notable as one of the first women to write ...

, also a scholar and a former Principal of Kambawza School. Her father, Sao Saimong, had an administrative career after the Shan principalities agreed to become part of the Union of Burma, and was Chief Education Officer for Shan and

Kayah State Kayah State ( my, ကယားပြည်နယ်, formerly Karenni State) is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and wes ...

s. Her mother was the author of '' Burmese Family'', a book on Burmese culture and was one of the first women to write in English about Burmese culture and traditions. Yin Yin Nwe is of

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...

ancestry on her mother's side and of Shan ancestry on her father's side, given that the state of Kengtung originated in the 13th century, when the Chiang Mai dynasty founded a new kingdom which was named

Lanna The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...

, sending a prince to Kengtung to establish a separate kingdom. Yin Yin Nwe obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the

Rangoon Arts and Science University '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...

(now University of Yangon) on 1969 later finished a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in the

Earth Sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four sphere ...

from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. She also has a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

Public Policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

and

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

. She served for 19 years at the Geology Department of Yangon University. In 1991, Yin Yin Nwe joined

as an Environment Project Officer and from 1992 to 1994, she was UNICEF Programme Officer for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Central Asian Republics and Albania. From 1994 to 1999, she worked a regional advisor for western and central Africa in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

Côte d’Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. In 1999, she was appointed UNICEF Regional Planning Officer for the Middle East and North Africa and in June 2005 appointed UNICEF Chief of Tsunami Support and did much work in Indonesia to help victims. She became the UNICEF Representative to China on 1 December 2006. Dr. Yin Yin Nwe retired from UNICEF in 2011. In August, 2012, the President of Myanmar appointed Dr. Yin Yin Nwe as a member of an Inquiry Commission to look into communal violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State. The commission completed its work and submitted a report in 2013. In June 2014, the President of Myanmar appointed Dr. Yin Yin Nwe as Chief Education Advisor. Prior to that she had also served as an advisor to the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), and was a member of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council as well as a member of the Education Promotion Implementation Committee (EPIC), promoting education reform. She was appointed as a member to the Advisory Board of

State Administration Council The State Administration Council ( my, နိုင်ငံတော်စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကောင်စီ; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Comm ...

(SAC), in the aftermath of the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then veste ...

Personal life

She is fluent in English, French and

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

and in 2006 was reported to be learning to speak Chinese fluently due to her new position.

References

{{authority control Living people 1950s births Burmese women geologists UNICEF people Alumni of the University of Cambridge University of Yangon alumni Burmese people of Mon descent Kengtung State Burmese people of Shan descent People from Kengtung Burmese officials of the United Nations