Ms Aye Lei Tun

Education:

June 2002 - March 2005                     - B.A (French), University of Foreign Languages, Mandalay, Myanmar

March 2014 - December 2015           - Master of Development Practice (Adv), University of Queensland, Australia

September 2015 - December 2016   - Master of Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies (Social Justice Perspective), International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands

September 2021 - to date                   - Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science (Comparative Politics), McMaster University, Canada

 Training Experience: 

 August - October 2007                         - Journalism Training Course arranged by Myanmar Consolidated Media Co., Ltd and Sasakawa Peace Foundation

January - September 2008                 - Conflict Transformation and Peace Building Training Course arranged by Shalom Foundation and Action Asia Organization, Cambodia

February 2009                                     - Monitoring and Evaluation Training, UNDP

June 2009                                             - Human Security Training, Mahidol University, Thailand

July 2009                                              - Community Based Disaster Risk Management Training organized by UNDP

September 2009                                  - Human Rights Training, Chonam University, Gwangju, South Korea 

January 2010                                       - Communications & Media Training organized by Oxfam, Bangkok

March 2010                                         - Research Training organized by Oxfam, Bangkok

June 2010                                             - Advocacy Training organized by Oxfam, Cambodia 

August - November 2011                   - Social Entrepreneurship Training by Myanmar Egress

January 2012                                       - Women Empowerment Program, Ewha University, Seoul, South Korea

October - November 2017                 - Violence against Women and Children Training, MASHAV, Israel

October 2023                                      - Early Researchers Workshop by the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies, Lava Univesrity, Canada

October 2024                                      - Early Researchers Workshop by the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies, York University, Canada

December 2024 – March 2025          - Internship at Parliamentary Center, Canada

Awards:

 September 2012                                  - Australia Award, Australian Development Scholarships, given by the Australian Government

July 2015                                              - NFP Fellowship Award, given by the Government of the Netherlands

March 2021                                         - A Graduate Scholarship from McMaster University, Canada

October 2021                                       - UBC-IDRC Award, The University of British Columbia, Canada

May 2022                                             - The 2022 Global Scholar-in-Community Fellowship, awarded by McMaster University

August 2023                                        - IDRC-UBC Burma Research Grant

March 2024                                         - SEAREG Pre-dissertation Fellowship, Duke Sanford University

Professional Experience:

 September 2021 - to date        - Teaching Assistant at McMaster University

1. March 2024 - to date                - Board Member of the Myanmar Women in Media (MWIM)
   1. 2015 - to date                           - Steering Committee Member of Association of Myanmar Disabled

Women’s Affairs

1. 2015 - to date                            - Individual trainer for gender awareness trainings
2. 2015 - to date                            - Individual consultant for gender related studies
3. March 2017 - February 2021   - Senior Program Manager (Livelihoods & Gender) of Enlightened Myanmar

Research Foundation (EMReF)

1. March 2009 - December 2013 - Executive Editor (Part-time) at The Light of Mandalay Weekly Newspaper
2. June 2012 - March 2013          - Communications Officer at Food Security Working Group (FSWG), Myanmar
3. November 2009 - December 2011 - Communications Officer at Oxfam, Myanmar
4. December 2008 - October 2009 - Communications and Reporting Officer at UNDP, Myanmar
5. December 2007 - November 2008 - Information and Publication Officer at UNODC, Myanmar
6. June 2005 - November 2007   - Senior Reporter at The Myanmar Times Journal, Myanmar

Research Experience:

• “Women’s participation in public life and decision-making process (2011),” as a Researcher with Oxfam
• “Institutional and leadership analysis (2012),”as a Research Supervisor with Myanmar Development Research Team
• “Sustainable economy and political parties in Myanmar (2013),” as a Research Supervisor with Myanmar Development Research Team
• “Gender representation in Myanmar media (2010-2014),”as a Researcher for own dissertation at the University of Queensland
• “Experiences and expectations of interpersonal relationships: Women with impairment in Myanmar (2016),” as a Researcher with the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and the Association of Myanmar Disabled Women’s Affairs (AMDWA)
• “Gender engagement in wildlife conservation (2017),” as a Research Consultant with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
• “A baseline survey of Yangon’s garment sector workforce (2017),” as a Research Project Manager with C&A foundation
• “Assessment on environmental and social impact framework (2017),” as a Research Project Manager with the World Bank
• “Audience study (2018),” as a Research Project Manager with the International Media Support (IMS)
• “Feminism in Myanmar (2018),” as a Research Project Manager with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
• “Gender’s perspective in Myanmar’s film industry (2018),” as a Lead Researcher with Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF)
• “Women’s participation in politics in Myanmar (2018-2020),” as a Research Project Manager with International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada
• “Border lives: Kachin-China border (2019),” as a Research Project Manager with Department for International Development (DFID), UK
• “Future of work (Women and Industrial Revolution 4.0) (2019),” as a Research Project Manager with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)
• “Gender and Media in Myanmar (2019-2020),” as a Research Project Manager with the UNESCO-SWAN
• “Global media monitoring project (2020),” as a Lead Researcher with the International Media Support (IMS)
• “Gender equality, peace and security in a Covid-19 world (2020),” as a Research Project Manager with Action Aid
• “Covid-19 and migration study (2020),” as a Research Project Manager with Paung Si Facility
• “Ethnic media study (2020),” as a Research Project Manager with the International Media Support (IMS)
• “The impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minority women in Myanmar’s conflict zones (2021),” as a Researcher for the UBC-IDRC conference
• “Peace and prospects of federalism for Chin community in Myanmar (2023),” as a Lead Researcher with the Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA); the project was funded by McMaster’s Community Research Grant
• “Women’s agency in armed struggles in Myanmar Spring Revolution (2023),” as a Researcher for own dissertation at the Myanmar Center, Australia National University.
• “Costs of being a woman in politics: Experiences of Myanmar’s women politicians in the post-coup resistance (2024),” as a Lead Researcher with the Myanmar Women Parliamentarians Network (MWPN)
• “Transnational networks and CSO resilience,” as a Researcher for Ph.D. dissertation (Under processing since 2023) 

Participation in conferences:

As a speaker

1. ASEAN Economic Integration Forum 2017 – "Gendering in Garment Factories in Myanmar: Experiences of Women in Economic Development," organized by UNESCAP, June 2017.
2. 16th Gender Summit – "Needs and Opportunities to Advance Research Capacity in Developing Countries through Gender Equality Interventions," August 2019.
3. Salzburg Global Seminar, May 2024.

As a panelist

1. Conference on Workforce in Yangon’s Garment Sector – Panel discussion on the "Baseline Study about Workforce in Yangon’s Garment Sector," organized by C&A Foundation and Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF), December 2017.
2. Australian National University (ANU) – Paper submission on "Women’s Rights to Citizenship Documentation," March 2019.
3. Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies Conference – Paper submission on "The Impact of COVID-19 on Ethnic Minority Women in Myanmar’s Conflict Zones," October 2021.
4. ANU’s Myanmar Updates Conference – Paper submission on "Women’s Agency in Armed Struggles in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution," July 2023.
5. Conference on "Promoting Knowledge Creation for a Democratic Myanmar" – Olomouc, June 2024.
   1. AAS Conference 2025 – Paper submission on "The Complexities and Challenges of Resistance Efforts: Social Punishment and Boycott Strategies in Post-Coup Myanmar," March 2025.

10. Australia-Myanmar Institute (AMI) Conference – Panel discussion on "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in Myanmar," Yangon, November 2017.

As a chair

11. Burma Studies Conference – Chaired the panel on "The Role of Women Politicians in Post-Coup Myanmar," Chiang Mai, July 2024.

List of publications:

As a Researcher

Aye Lei Tun. 2016. “Experiences and Expectations of Interpersonal Relationships: Women with Impairment in Myanmar.” The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies (ISS). https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/37331.

———. 2017a. “Gender Engagement in Wildlife Conservation.” Yangon, Myammar: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

———. 2017b. “Gender Representation for Development in Myanmar Media (2010-2014).” Journal of South Asian Studies, no. 13, 33–60. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/43966.

———. 2022. “Women’s Right to Citizenship Documentation.” Tea Circle Oxford. December 9, 2022. https://teacircleoxford.com/politics/womens-right-to-citizenship-documen....

———. 2023a. “Deconstructing and Reinforcing Gender Norms and Cultural Taboos in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution.” Journal of Burma Studies 27 (1): 29–63.

———. 2023b. “Peace and Prospects of Federalism for the Chin Community in Myanmar.” Aizawl, INdia: Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA) and McMaster University. https://chinaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Peace-and-Prospects-o....

Aye Lei Tun, La Ring, and Su Su Hlaing. 2019. “Feminism in Myanmar.” Yangon: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. https://asia.fes.de/news/feminism-in-myanmar.

Aye Lei Tun and Emilie Lehmann-Jacobsen. 2020. Ethnic Media Study: Media Habits and Media Representations of Ethnic Minorities in Myanmar. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16838.50249.

Aye Lei Tun and Netina Tan. 2024. “The Secret Garden of Candidate Selection and Women’s Political Participation.” In Putting Women Up: Gender Equality and Politics in Myanmar. Singapore: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. https://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/7889.

EMReF. 2017. “A Baseline Survey of Yangon’s Garment Sector Workforce.” Yangon, Myammar: Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation. https://www.emref.org/sites/emref.org/files/publication-docs/ygfdigital_....

———. 2018. “Gender Awareness in Myanmar Film Industry.” Yangon: Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation.

———. 2019. “Border Lives: Kachin-China Border.” Yangon, Myammar: Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation. https://www.emref.org/sites/emref.org/files/publication-docs/border-live....

———. 2020. “Gender and Political Participation in Myanmar.” Yangon: Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation.

Myanmar Women Parliamentarian Network. 2024. “Costs of Being a Woman in Politics: Experiences of Myanmar’s Women Politicians in the Post-Coup Resistance.” Myanmar: Myanmar Women Parliamentarians Network (MWPN). https://wmpnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Eng-Costs-of-Being-a-W....

Tan, Netina, Paul Minoletti, Elin Bjarnegård, and Aye Lei Tun. 2020. “Party Building and Candidate Selection – Intraparty Politics and Promoting Gender Equality in Myanmar.” Yangon, Myanmar: Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation.

As a Writer with a Pen Name: Thawda Aye Lei

1. “Silky Moon-shade” fiction published in May 2017, Kant Kaw Wut Yee Publishing House
2. “Will smile tomorrow” fiction published in July 2018, Kant Kaw Wut Yee Publishing House
3. “The river left behind” fiction published in May 2019, Kant Kaw Wut Yee Publishing House
4. Collection of three short stories book “Borderless cloud” published in May 2019, EMReF
5. “80 percent chance of rain” fiction published in July 2020, Kant Kaw Wut Yee Publishing House
6. “Wednesday” fiction published in April 2024, Kant Kaw Wut Yee Publishing House
7. Published 20 short stories (fiction) in local magazines, and 60 articles about gender-related and cultural issues in the local newspapers and magazines since 2005
8. Participation as an invited young Burmese writer in the International Writing Program (September- November 2019) in Iowa, the US

 Translation service:

1. Chin Comprehensive Plan Vol 1 (2015), published by MIID (from English to Myanmar)
2. Chin Comprehensive Plan Vol 2 (2015), published by MIID (from English to Myanmar)
3. Monitoring River Health for Improved Community Livelihoods (2015), published by MIID (from English to Myanmar)
4. The Women Are Ready: An Opportunity to Transform Peace in Myanmar (PSF Summary Paper No 1) and Infographic (2016), published by Peace Security Fund (from English to Myanmar)
5. Women’s Human Rights (Human Rights in Southeast Asia: An Undergraduate Textbook) (2017), published by SHAPE-SEA Secretariat, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand (From English to Myanmar)
6. Children’s Rights (Human Rights in Southeast Asia: An Undergraduate Textbook) (2017), published by SHAPE-SEA Secretariat, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand (from English to Myanmar)
7. Sex and Gender Diversity (Human Rights in Southeast Asia: An Undergraduate Textbook) (2017), published by SHAPE-SEA Secretariat, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand (from English to Myanmar)
8. Chapter abstracts for “Putting Women Up” book (2024), published by ISEAS, Singapore

 References: Available upon request