Water

Ms. Erna Witoelar is the UN Special Ambassador for Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific. Before this post, she served as the Indonesian Minister of Human Settlements and Regional Development, responsible for the portfolio on housing & human settlements, public works, water resource management, and spatial planning.

Ms. Witoelar also serves as the chairperson of the Indonesia Biodiversity Foundation (KEHATI) and is an Earth Charter Commissioner. She initiated several partnerships and organizations focused on governance and environmental reforms including the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) and provided leadership to others, serving as president of Consumers International and the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI).

Ms. Witoelar received a masters degree in Chemical Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology, and completed post-graduate study in Human Ecology from the University of Indonesia.

Mr. Li Yuanyuan is the Deputy Chief Engineer and Professor of the Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design General Institute of the Ministry of Water Resources. In this capacity, he is spearheading several long-term water resource planning initiatives in the PRC focused on flood mitigation, infrastructure and land use, and national water sector development.

Mr. Li also serves as the Secretary-General of the National Committee of International Water Resources Association and National Water Resources Planning Study Commission, Vice-Chairman of China Water Resources Association, China Natural Resources Association and is a Member of the International Collaborative Council of Water and Sanitation.

Mr. Li obtained his B.S. in Hydrology and Water Resources from Chengdu Science and Technology University, PRC.

Mr. Gilberto Llanto is the Vice-President of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). Prior to this post, he has held various executive and technical (research) positions as a professional economist most recently with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as Deputy Director General [Under Secretary]. He currently serves as a Research Fellow with the Rural Development Research Consortium at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a member of the National Research Council of the Philippines and the International Association of Survey Statisticians. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Philippine Development.

Mr. Llanto has chaired and served on the Board of Directors of several organizations including the Center for Training and Research in Agricultural Banking (CENTRAB), the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Philippine Economic Society.

Mr. Llanto has conducted extensive economic research and policy work focused on financial markets, fiscal and monetary policy, agricultural finance, and public economics.

Mr. Ravi Narayanan is the Chief Executive of WaterAid, an international NGO focusing on the delivery of water and sanitation services and working on pro poor policy and advocacy issues worldwide. Prior to joining WaterAid, Mr. Narayanan was the Head of International Operations and Asia Director at ActionAid, where he previously directed programs for Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He currently serves as a Trustee of Action on Disability and Development and is a member of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. Mr. Narayanan is also engaged as a Senior Associate with the National Institute of Advanced Studies.

In addition to earning bachelors and masters degrees from Delhi and Cambridge Universities in Physics and Engineering, Mr. Narayanan has nearly two decades experience in engineering design, production, sales and general management in the UK and India.

Mr. Pradeep Singh is the President & CEO of IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation, which has established partnerships with the Federal Government and more than ten state governments in India for developing infrastructure projects in Public Private Partnership formats. Mr. Singh is a former member of the Indian Administrative Service and held several positions in state and central government before joining the IL&FS in 1997. He was also engaged in policy formulation and implementation of development programs that focused on the poor.

Mr. Singh received a Masters of Public Administration degree from Harvard University and a MBA and M.Sc in Physics from Punjab University, India. He was also a Rotary International Graduate Fellow at Stanford University in the Department of Engineering Economic Systems.

Ms. Annelie Hubach is consultant to the Division for Environment and Water Resources Management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Ms. Hubach's work focuses on integrated water resources management and water and sanitation with respect to poverty and gender mainstreaming and institutional change.

She is also engaged as adviser to the Netherlands' Council of Women assisting with policy and strategy development for the Women for Water Partnership. Prior to these engagements, she also served as an adviser with the Water Unit and Social Policy Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Ms. Hubach obtained a Masters in Social Geography and Teaching Training College diploma from Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam, with qualifications in Geography and History.