Alumni Interview
Pem Wangdi, MA 04

For the last six months, I have been working with the Bhutan National Commission for Women and Children as its program officer. Prior to that, I worked closely with the Commission as a consultant for the UNDP Bhutan Program.

There are a lot of political changes going on in Bhutan right now. In 2008, the present king of Bhutan will abdicate in favor of his son, the crown prince. In 2008, the country will also adopt its first constitution and hold the first-ever parliamentary elections, moving from a monarchy to a parliamentary democracy. Most of the Commission's activities and programs are focused on ensuring that women's and children's issues and rights are not compromised and their interests and concerns are considered as the country progresses.

As part of this process, I have been involved in sensitizing and creating awareness among our policy makers, parliamentarians, and the general public on gender issues and child rights. Our activities have, so far, been received positively, and as a result, we have been able to have gender realized as a cross cutting issue among the development themes. We are also working towards integrating a gender perspective into the electoral process to ensure that women's needs, interests and concerns are not overlooked in this important process. I hope to do this by emphasizing a gender sensitive approach to voter and civic education that will be implemented by the Election Commission for Bhutan. I am also engaged in drafting the first National Plan of Action for Gender in the country. This plan will serve as the main policy document on gender in Bhutan.

Being at the SID program definitely opened my "eyes" to a lot of issues and to a lot of work that is being done to alleviate poverty and empower women and vulnerable groups. All of my classmates were a source of information, experiences and inspiration. As one of the younger SIDers in the program, I did not have much experience working on development issues and listening to my classmates and learning from them definitely shaped my beliefs, put things in perspective, and led me to where I am today. Having had to deal with the tragic passing away of two dear friends from SID: Mironda Heston and Guillaume Kakanou has strengthened my resolve to work towards creating a better world for everyone, as Mironda and Guillaume had done.