Suparana Katyaini awarded inaugural Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women

15 Sep Suparana Katyaini awarded inaugural Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women

The International RiverFoundation has awarded the inaugural Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women to Suparana Katyaini, a final-year PhD candidate at IIT Guwahati.

The Vera Thiess Fellowship gives women the opportunity to gain valuable work experience through the International RiverFoundation and its partners, with the goal of advancing women’s participation in water and river management. This fellowship goes not only towards supporting a scholar, but towards continuing the important work of bridging the gap in women’s participation in river basin management. It honours the late Vera Thiess, a long-time supporter of the International RiverFoundation.

Suparana formally received the award at the Riverprize Gala Dinner held in New Delhi in conjunction with the 19th International Riversymposium.

‘I am very excited to receive the first Vera Thiess Fellowship to advance women’s participation in water and river management,’ Suparana said.

‘It gives me a great opportunity to bring out ‘women’s voices’ in the ongoing dialogues on Transboundary Rivers for a sustainable future.’

Suparana’s work has focused largely on bridging the gap between science and policy, and has particularly emphasised the role of women in governing transboundary rivers. She hopes to use her Fellowship year to contribute to water literacy by focusing on women’s voices in water governance of the Brahmaputra River in South Asia.

Over the next year, Suparana will produce a report on the state of gender in water management worldwide, participate in dialogue on the Brahmaputra River, and will work with the Global Water Partnership and San Antonio River Basin Authority for valuable knowledge exchange activities. She will also present the outcomes of her Fellowship at the 20^th International Riversymposium in Brisbane, Australia late next year.