Amina Maharjan

Intervention Manager - Foresight & Policy options
Adapting and transforming livelihoods and economies (AAC)
Resilient mountain economies and landscapes (SG2)

Dr. Amina Maharjan works as a Senior Livelihood and Migration Specialist and leads the work on human mobility and migration since 2015. She also leads ICIMOD’s intervention ‘Foresight and policy scenarios for adaptation in mountain economies’. This initiative strives to support proactive anticipatory measures that allow governments and communities to effectively adapt to potential future changes and uncertainties.

Amina is an interdisciplinary researcher and practitioner working at the intersection of human mobility and migration, sustainable development, and climate adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya with a particular emphasis on science-policy-practice interface, gender equity and social inclusion, local knowledge systems, and anticipatory planning and adaptation.

Amina was a contributing author to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has published several peer-reviewed articles on migration, climate change and agriculture linkages. She was one of the editors of the Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HI-WISE) report, leading the section on social implication of cryosphere change in the region.

Prior to joining ICIMOD, she worked as a practitioner in agriculture and migration projects and as independent development consultant. She led the flagship pilot project on improving international labour migration governance in Nepal and was instrumental in developing the extended phase of the project that has played a critical role in overall improvements in migration governance.

Amina holds a PhD in Agriculture from University of Giessen, Germany.

Amina Maharjan

Q:

How do you protect the pulse of the planet?

A:

I protect the pulse of the planet by providing knowledge-based solutions to the challenges faced by the HKH mountain societies.

Q:

What is your favorite part of the work you do at ICIMOD?

A:

The flexibility, scope for innovation, local-regional-global relevance of work that ICIMOD conducts is what I enjoy the most. Since our overall bio-physical environment and socio-economic situations are constantly changing and are connected across space, for any institution and its work to be relevant, it has to be flexible and innovative in its approach.

Q:

What are you passionate about?

A:

I am a people person and interested in a wide range of topics that impact life and livelihoods of mountain people. More specifically, I’m passionate about human mobility and migration and their linkages with the lives and livelihoods of people.

Q:

My qualifications

A:

I have a PhD in Agriculture and prior work experience in human mobility and migration.

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