International Hydrological Programme

    Bhanu Neupane

    Mr Bhanu Neupane, a native of Nepal, was born in 1966. His undergraduate degree was on agricultural sciences, with a specialization in water management. He went to the Asian Institute of Technology for his master's degree. During 1993, he researched water resource management at several universities in the US. He earned his Ph.D from the Waterloo-Laurier Joint Programme in Geography and Environmental Studies in Canada, for which he attended Wilfrid Laurier University between 1994-1998. For his Doctorate, he explored systems and application challenges of and develop a systems model on the Dublin Principles on water and sustainable development.


    He started his career as a change agent for a GTZ-funded agricultural inputs project in Eastern Nepal in 1987. He also served as an Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Specialist for a governmental research organization in Nepal. During 1997-98, he worked as a consultant in the US and served in several Southeast Asian counties. During 1999 and early 2000, he was associated with the Integrated Consultants of Nepal.


    He joined UNESCO as a Programme Specialist in 2000 and served with the UN system-wide World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP). His main role was to develop and maintain information systems and to coordinate WWAP case studies in Sri Lanka and Thailand. In 2003, he was given the overall responsibility to coordinate activities on indicator development for the 2nd edition of the WWAP World Water Development Report (WWDR -II), for which he worked closely with the United nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and International Water Assessment Center in the Netherlands.


    He was transferred to the UNESCO Office in New Delhi in September 2004, where he has been tasked to act as the Programme Specialist for Water Resources and Hydrology for South Asia. In this capacity he is responsible for the implementation of the IHP and the preparation and design of regional projects and activities on hydrology and water resources.