Canada’s International Development Research Centre and The United Nations Human Rights Office would like to invite you or your representative to the report launch and panel discussion on human rights in Myanmar.

This event is now over. The event is available to watch on You Tube here. A summary of the event is available below.

Summary video of the report launch

Photographs of the report launch

The report from the UN Human Rights Office was first presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 27, 2025 and then launched in Bangkok on July 7th. It highlights the crisis in Myanmar and global responsibilities to support the country’s democratic aspirations.

During the Bangkok launch, panellists explored key recommendations from the report and ASEAN’s role in solving the Myanmar crisis. As Myanmar’s people continue to risk everything for freedom, the world must match their courage with action. The panel discussed what more the international community can do to support a rights-based, inclusive future for Myanmar. The event offered a unique opportunity to engage with experts and advocates at the forefront of that mission.

Please note that this was a public event. Participants were informed that photos would be taken and may be used online.

This event is part of K4DM’s annual Knowledge Marketplace. Learn more about the 2025 K4DM Knowledge Marketplace.  

Learn more about United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner and their work on Myanmar. https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/myanmar

Event Host

Edgard Rodriguez is an expert on capacity building for policy research. He has worked with universities, think tanks and networks at IDRC promoting better training and mentoring of emerging thought leaders in social and economic policies in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Since 2017, he has led an initiative to promote gender-sensitive public policy in Myanmar working with think tanks, universities and civil society. Edgard Rodriguez holds a PhD in economics from the University of Toronto with specialization in economic development and labour economics.

Moderator

Napas Thein is a Research Fellow with the Myanmar Policy and Community Knowledge (MyPACK) Hub at the University of Toronto’s Munk School, where he recently completed his Master of Public Policy. He supports Myanmar diaspora organizing in Canada, develops materials to raise awareness of the crisis, and has briefed parliamentarians and policymakers on developments on the ground. He recently completed a research fellowship at Chiang Mai University through the UBC Myanmar Initiative, engaging with frontline stakeholders to deepen his understanding of grassroots responses to the situation.

Speakers

James Rodehaver has headed the Myanmar Team of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights based in the South East Asia Region Office in Bangkok since January 2020. A lawyer by profession, James has over 25 years of experience working on complex human rights issues in conflict and post-conflict situations, having previously served as the Coordinator of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria (2014-2020), Deputy Director of the Human Rights Unit of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (2010-2014) and Director of the Human Rights presences of the OSCE in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2005-2010) and Kosovo. James also served with the UN assistance missions in Sierra Leone (1999-2000), Kosovo (2000-2004) and Liberia (2004-2005). Mr. Rodehaver graduated with high honors from Ohio University’s History Department and Contemporary History Institute. Thereafter he obtained his Juris Doctor from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia winning the Frederic L. Kirgis prize in Public international Law. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Human Rights Law Centre of Nottingham University and was recognized as a Notable Alumni of Ohio University in 2019.

Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd is a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center, specializing in security dynamics in Myanmar and Southeast Asia, with a focus on civil-military relations and the intersection of economics, education, and security. A retired U.S. Army officer with 28 years of service, she held key roles at U.S. Pacific Command and supported operations and diplomacy across the Indo-Pacific. Dr. Byrd serves on advisory boards for organizations including the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, IDRC’s Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar Initiative, and the Myanmar Policy Institute. Her work appears in Joint Force Quarterly, Global Asia, and Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs. She holds degrees from Claremont McKenna College, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Southern California.

Toby Mendel is the executive director of the Centre for Law & Democracy (CLD) in Halifax, Canada. Prior to founding CLD in 2010, Toby Mendel was for over 12 years Senior Director for Law at ARTICLE 19, a human rights NGO focusing on freedom of expression and the right to information. He has provided expertise on these rights to a wide range of actors including the World Bank, various UN and other intergovernmental bodies, and numerous governments and NGOs in countries all over the world. In these various roles, he has often played a leading role in drafting legislation in the areas of the right to information and media regulation. Before joining ARTICLE 19, he worked as a senior human rights consultant with Oxfam Canada and as a human rights policy analyst at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). He has published extensively on a range of freedom of expression, right to information, communication rights and refugee issues, including comparative legal and analytical studies on public service broadcasting, the right to information and broadcast policy. Toby has an Honours B.A. in mathematics from McGill University and an L.L.B. from Dalhousie University.

Thinzar Shunlei Yi is the Director of #Sisters2Sisters (NGO). She is a Burmese pro-democracy activist and former television journalist and host. Following the 2021 Burmese coup d’état, she helped organize mass protests against the Myanmar military. Born in Sagaing to a military family, she originally trained to become a high school teacher, graduating from the Yangon University of Education in 2013. Between 2012 and 2016, Thinzar Shunlei Yi was politically active in executive positions of several youth organizations, and later became a television host on Under 30 Dialogue, a youth-oriented television programme. She lives in exile in Thailand as of 2022, and runs the #Sisters2Sisters anti-wartime sexual violence campaign. She has received the Magnitsky Human Rights Award, and further honors from Women of the Future, the Obama Foundation, and the US Department of State.

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Posts from the K4DM Knowledge Marketplace 2025