2020
Ye Min Ko
- Age: 29
- | He/him/his
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Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality. To empower women and girls, we must educate them and listen their voices. Their voices must be included at every decision-making level. That is exactly what we need to do for a gender equal world. My belief is that everyone deserves equal opportunities, no matter who they are, and no matter what their gender or sexuality might be.
- Ye Min Ko
Bio
Ye Min Ko was born and raised in Myanmar. He received a Bachelor of Community Health from the University of Community Health in 2016. Ye is a public health professional with a demonstrated history of working in the research industry. As a Research and Learning Coordinator at Community Partner International Myanmar, Ye is responsible for providing technical and management support for research agenda development and research projects implementation. Ye performs as a focal person for coordination with 12 HIV/TB implementing partners and main stakeholders for research and learning activities of project. Ye also involves in creating the e-learning platform for HIV/TB service providers and affected key populations. With remarkable effort, his magnificent academic research papers and abstracts are also selected by the prestigious international conferences – he recently presented his abstract at the international conference on Family Planning which was held in Thailand in 2022. Ye is also a volunteer at Than Sitt Charity Clinic, Myanmar Liver Foundation.
What ignited your pursuit for gender equality?
In 2016, when I was in Kanpetlet township, Chin State, which was the least developing state in Myanmar, I heard a pity personal story from my interview with reproductive woman from selected household. She shared her negative pregnancy experiences and limited access to health services. I listened that with a heavy heart. And, the worst thing is that polygamy was still practiced in that area. This true personal story of a reproductive woman inspired me to become an advocate for gender equality and for the health and rights of girls and women.
Please share your biggest wins as an advocate for gender equality.
In my country, female sex workers have been facing barriers to get access to heath services due to fear of social stigma and discrimination. They need a lot of social support from the community. Thus, I immensely engrossed to fight against the discrimination and stigma over female sex workers. I provided some concrete support to them both mentally and physically. I established a local network to have peer support and share their own experiences. With that network, I also led community awareness raising activities to mitigate stigma and discrimination over sex workers. At the same time, I advocate female sex workers to know and to realize their health and rights. After that, health services utilization rate among female sex workers increased doubled than before. This is my success story for the health and rights of girls and women.
Outside of your gender equality advocacy work, what do you enjoy doing?
During my spare time, I enjoy reading books, volunteering, gardening, traveling, spending time in nature and meditating.
Languages Spoken:
- Burmese (Advanced/Native)
- English (Intermediate)
- French (Elementary)
- English (Intermediate)
Publications:
Speaks On:
- Youth Empowerment for HIV Prevention
- Meaningful Youth Engagement in Research
- Contraception and Access to Reproductive Health Services
Past Awards, Certifications, or Fellowships:
- Myanmar Delegate for 5th University Scholar Leadership Symposium (2014)
- Leadership Development Program in Social Changes Certificate, Humanitarian Affair UK (2014)
- Youth Leader for ASEAN Youth Volunteer Program (E-AYVP), Malaysia (2020)
- Implementation Research with a focus on Infectious Diseases of Poverty (IDP) Certificate, WHO-TDR (2020)
- YSEALI YOUnified 2020 Event Certificate (2020)
