Peace and Harmony in the environment

Naw Ah Mu Htoo was born in Loikaw in Karenni state, Myanmar. She did not finish high school because she was displaced due to the civil conflict. She left Loikaw and in 2003 she moved to Karenni camp 1 in Thailand where she attended the camp high school. 

After finishing school she registered for the Karenni Social Development Center (KSDC) where she studied leadership, human rights and care of the environment amongst other studies. 

Following graduation she worked for the camp security team for 7 months until she had a chance to further improve her English on a course by KSDC. 

Then she started working with an environmental organisation, Karenni Evergreen where she was able to pursue part-time studies to learn more about the connection between human rights and the environment.  

Since 2009 Naw Ah Mu Htoo has been Director of Karenni Evergreen. She has established teams to work on environmental management in the refugee camps as well as running a community forest project inside Karenni state, Myanmar. In Karenni state she meets with the local villagers to provide information on how they can protect their forests and together they create community centers.
She says: “In our state, I would like to see peace and no more fighting. I would like everybody to be aware of their rights. Especially, I would like people to live harmoniously with their environment.”