Sokhem Pech
MA, LLM, PhD

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Based in North Vancouver, Canada
Fluent in English & Khmer
Proficient in French & Russian

SOKHEM PECH holds a PhD degree in a multi-disciplinary and sustainability science from Tohoku University in Japan, and two master degrees from the Graduate Faculty at the University of Calgary in Canada, in international water law and environmental governance in addition to attending the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in public laws and diplomacy. Dr. Pech has over 30 years of experience working at a senior management level with national governments, inter-governmental organizations, international multi-disciplinary research consortia, and consulting companies both in the Mekong Region, Asia and North America. He is an accomplished specialist in law and public policy, diplomacy and international development, transboundary river basin governance and climate change, institutional development, and dispute management.
 
Sokhem was formerly a senior official (Chief of Staff) in Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He subsequently joined the Mekong River Commission (MRC) as an international water lawyer before being appointed as Director of the MRC’s Technical Support Division and the Assistant CEO. After five years with MRC, he joined an academic research program in Japan focusing on water policy in the Mekong Region; and has also served as Chair of the Regional Research network, implementing the Mekong Program on Environment Water and Resilience (MPOWER). 

As an international consultant, Dr. Pech has served as a team leader, legal advisor, and manager and specialist in a number of high-profile water law and transboundary river basin governance assignments, environmental and climate related projects in Canada, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam. He led numerous international projects for the ADB/GMS Environmental Operations Center (EOC), Mekong River Commission (MRC), World Bank/GEF, World Bank/Canadian POPs Trust Fund, World Bank and ADB, Climate Investment Funds (CIF), International Union for Conservation (IUCN) Environmental Law Center, Global International Water Assessment (GIWA), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Regional Centre for Flood Management and Mitigation (RCFMM), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Danish Development Agency (DANIDA), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Worldish Centre, M-POWER, CPWF, Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

Specifically, he has had first-hand extensive experience in:

• leading the strategic and action planning process and directing the day-to-day operational activities of the diplomatic relations (1981-1985, 1991-1993, and 1995-1997) as a diplomat and international lawyer, and Chief of Staff in the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFA&IC) (1997-2000),
• negotiating and providing legal and technical assistance to the implementation and operationalization of the international river basin agreements, and delivering regional and national programs in climate adaptation and mitigation, and mainstreaming and building climate resilience, and water, food and energy security nexus.
• leading politically, culturally and technically challenging Mekong River Commission Secretariat (2000-2004), and directing and managing multi-million-dollar programs such as the World Bank/Climate International Fund (CIF) and ADB/CIF climate resilience projects in Cambodia (2010-2014), and Australian DFAT Cambodian Agriculture Value Chain Program (2017-2019) etc.
• leading multi-disciplinary research organizations/programs (e.g., was a Senior Policy Researcher in the Japan Science and Technology Agency’s CREST Program, and Co-chair of the Mekong Program of Water, Environment and Resilience (MPOWER), and a leading member in the Water, Land and Ecosystems in the Greater Mekong (WLE) from 2004 to 2016).