Vincent Thomas

Vincent has graduated from the Wageningen University in 2004 and holds a MSc in International Land and Water Management. Vincent has been working in South Africa from 2004 to 2005 for the Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD) as a research assistant. He focused on participatory planning for water resources development at village and watershed levels. From 2005 to 2010 Vincent has been working in Afghanistan with the Aga Khan Foundation on a Social Water Management project called PMIS (Participatory Management of Irrigation Systems) in the Northeastern Provinces of Takhar and Baghlan, within the Amu Darya River Basin. This project falls under the government led Panj-Amu River Basin Program. The PMIS project has three integrated components: (1) Technical rehabilitation (in-canal infrastructure rehabilitation / upgrading through a participatory design process); (2) On-farm water management (focusing on reducing the water demand at plot and canal level); (3) WUA formation and capacity building. The project has been a pilot informing the on-going water sector reform in Afghanistan. He recently participated in the edition of the Afghanistan Human Development Report 2011 entitled “The forgotten front: Water security and the crisis in sanitation”. He worked on the development of a methodological guidelines on WUA formation and development for the Afghanistan Ministry of Energy and Water. He is currently holding a position of researcher on water management (policies and institutions) for the Afghan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU).