Koh Miyaoi (Japan) is a gender and development specialist with nearly thirty years of experience in the United Nations system, leading regional portfolios and advising on gender equality and institutional transformation. Her work integrates gender perspectives into development planning, policy frameworks, and crisis response, with extensive regional experience in Asia, the Pacific, and Eastern Europe.

From 2014 to 2023, Koh served as Gender Advisor and Gender Team Leader at UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub. In this role, she led UNDP’s gender equality agenda across the Asia-Pacific region, advising on programme design, strengthening institutional systems for gender mainstreaming, and providing practical technical support to country offices. She also coordinated a regional community of practice and worked closely with UN inter-agency mechanisms to ensure coherent and impactful gender advocacy.

Koh has held senior regional and policy advisory roles with UNDP in Jordan, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. In these positions, she supported country offices and regional partners in incorporating gender equality into programme cycles, resilience-building, and institutional policy. She also played a key role in cross-agency collaboration and resource mobilization for gender-responsive initiatives, including in crisis-affected contexts such as the Syria-related refugee response.

Before joining UNDP, Koh worked with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), where she led technical cooperation projects, developed gender mainstreaming strategies, and supported national machineries across the region. Her previous roles included serving at the UN Division for the Advancement of Women in New York and managing subregional development programs with UNDP Thailand.

She frequently collaborates in intergovernmental forums, UN inter-agency platforms, and civil society initiatives on gender and human rights. Koh also has experience in adult training, facilitation, and organizational capacity development.

Koh holds a Master’s Degree in Gender Analysis in Development and a Bachelor’s in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia, UK. She is fluent in English and Japanese and has a proven track record of designing gender-responsive, grounded, scalable, and institutionally sustainable systems.