The project, also called “e-Women,” has been funded by the Italian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the University of Tuscia. The
program has an annual budget of 15 Million THB. The signing
ceremony of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on 17 January 2013 was
attended by Dr. Edoardo Pantanella, University of Tuscia, Italy;
Mr. U Tin Win Aung, Chairman, MCC-EERi, Myanmar; Prof. Said
Irandoust, President, AIT; and Dr Ram C. Bhujel, Project Principal
Investigator, AIT.
During the inception meeting held at Yangon on 10 January 2013, Chief
Minister of Yangon, H.E. Mr. U Myint Swe, inaugurated a one-day
seminar, which was attended by the Ambassador of Italy to Myanmar,
H.E..Mr. Paolo Andrea Bartorelli. The Chief Minister stated that the
program has become a part of the government’s Rural Development and
Women’s Empowerment program. Others who attended the event included Mr.
U Hla Myint, Mayor, City Development Committee; Mr. U Nyan Tun Oo,
Minister for Electricity and Industry and Mr. U Soe Min, Minister for
Agriculture and Livestock, Yangon Region Government; and Ms. Maria Pia
Dradi, Expert, Central Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome. Besides
ministers and officials of the Yangon Government, representatives of
NGOs, private sector and farmers groups also participated in the event.
The project goal is to improve livelihood of the rural people through
women's empowerment, and it seeks to achieve this through generating
income, improving nutrition and creating employment. Ninety-nine
families from 11 villages have been selected as target group for the
first year of the project. The program team comprises of Dr. Giuseppe
Colla, Principal Investigator at the University of Tuscia (UoT), Italy;
Dr. Ram C. Bhujel, Principal Investigator at the Asian Institute of
Technology (AIT), Thailand; Dr. Edoardo Pantanella, Project
Coordinator, UoT; Ms. Chaw Khin Khin, National Program Advisor, Yangon,
Myanmar; and Dr. Win Myint, National Program Manager, Environmental and
Economics Research Institute (EERi), Yangon, Myanmar.
More details are available at this link: www.aarm-asialink.info/eWomen-mm.html
From left: Dr Edoardo Pantanella, Prof
Said Irandoust, Mr. U Tin Win Aung, and Dr. Ram C.
Bhujel.