The Asia Foundation Announces Matthew Arnold as Myanmar Country Representative

The Asia Foundation announces the appointment of Matthew Arnold as country representative in Myanmar. In this role, he oversees the Foundation’s development programs in Myanmar, focused on strengthening institutions and practices of democratic governance, supporting the peace process, promoting women’s empowerment and political participation, strengthening initiatives for inclusive local economic development and improving access to information.

Most recently, Arnold served as deputy country representative for The Asia Foundation in Myanmar, where he designed the Foundation’s programs on subnational and urban governance and peace process—issues critical to the country’s challenging democratic transition. Previously, he served as a senior program officer for The Asia Foundation, overseeing results monitoring and research regarding conflict and fragility programming. Arnold was also a senior research fellow at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University where he conducted research focused on foreign interventionism and post-conflict reconstruction in weak states. In addition, Arnold has several years of experience in field-based monitoring and evaluation and academic research in Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Thailand.

Arnold also worked for the UN World Food Programme managing operations in refugee camps in Ethiopia and as a monitoring & evaluation advisor in humanitarian crises ranging from Liberia, Afghanistan and the DR Congo to Sri Lanka, Aceh, and Timor-Leste. He has co-authored two books: Militias and the Challenges of Post-Conflict Peace (Zed Books, 2011) and South Sudan: From revolution to independence (Oxford University Press, 2012). He also has published in leading journals on Asia, security and development, including Asian Survey, International Peacekeeping, and Conflict, Security and Development.

Arnold holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the London School of Economics.

The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, our work across the region addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote regional cooperation.

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