Global Affiliates

Dr. Yumiko Yasuda is the senior network and transboundary water cooperation specialist at the Global Water Partnership.She leads GWP’s thematic work on transboundary water, and is the lead faculty of the MOOC on Transboundary Freshwater Security, designed and directed the production of the course. As a GWP network specialist, she also supports GWP networks’ activities in Pan Asia and Caribbean regions including their governance, IWRM, SDG, climate and water. Her area of expertise lies 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 experiences working in multiple sectors in the field of water and environment including: UNDP-GEF Asia and the Pacific region program officer, livelihoods specialists for WWF Mekong program, 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.

Yumikoobtained 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 entitled “Rules, Norms and NGO Advocacy Strategies: Hydropower Development on the Mekong River” by Routledge in 2015.

Key publications

· Yasuda, Y. (2021). Integrated approach to governance of a transboundary river, in ‘The restless River’ World Bank, Washington DC.

· Practical Guide for the Development of Agreements or Other Arrangements for Transboundary Water Cooperation. (2021) United Nations. Geneva. (Drafting group member of the guide and contributing author on section ‘Protection of marine environment’)

· Yasuda, Y., Hill, D., Aich, D., Huntjens, P., Swain, A. (2018) Multi-track water diplomacy: current and potential future cooperation over the Brahmaputra River Basin. Water International.

· Yasuda, Y., Aich, D., Hill, D., Huntjens, P., Swain, A. (2017) Transboundary Water Cooperation over the Brahmaputra River: Legal Political Economy Analysis of Current and Future Potential Cooperation. The Hague Institute for Global Justice.

· Yasuda, Y., Schillinger, J., Huntjens, P. Alofs, C., De Man, R. (2017) Transboundary Water Cooperation over the lower part of the Jordan River Basin: Legal Political Economy Analysis of Current and Future Potential Cooperation. The Hague Institute for Global Justice.

·Huntjens, P., Yasuda, Y., Islam, S., Swain, A., de Man, R., Magsig, B., (2016) Multi-track Water Diplomacy Framework: a legal and political economy analysis for improved understanding and options for advancing water cooperation. First edition, The Hague Institute for Global Justice

· Yasuda, Y. (2015) Rules, Norms and NGO Advocacy Strategies: Hydropower Development on the Mekong River. London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis.

· Yasuda, Y. (2014) Formal rules, informal norms and advocacy strategies of NGOs: Lessons from the Mekong River. Research brief series No. 1 Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science. University of Dundee.