Resilient Together: Managing Disaster and Climate Risks in South Asia

Dr Abdulla Naseer is the Minister of State for Environment, Climate Change and Technology for the Republic of Maldives. Earlier, he served as a senior policy advisor at the Ministry of Environment and Energy and also as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. Mr Naseer also taught as a Senior Lecturer at the Maldives National University. 

Aisha Khan is the Founder & Head of the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change & Mountain and Glacier Protection Organization. She works at the community and policy level to strengthen climate action by supporting inclusive and participatory practices.  She currently serves as the convener of the Working Group on Climate Security at the Strategic Policy Planning Cell, National Security Division. She is also part of the External Advisory Council of the World Bank on developing the South Asia Region Climate Change Action Plan (2020-2025)

Dr Pema Gyamtsho is the Director General for  ICIMOD, a regional knowledge-centre based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He is an agricultural scientist with experience in both the political arena – he was Bhutan’s first democratically elected Minister of Agriculture and Forest from 2013 to 2018- as well as the development sector, having worked with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and ICIMOD earlier

Saleemul Huq is the Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Bangladesh and is an expert on the links between climate change and sustainable development, particularly from the perspective of developing countries. He was the lead author of the chapter on Adaptation and Sustainable Development in the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate. 

Joydeep Gupta is the South Asia Director of The Third Pole. He writes, commissions and edits articles on climate change, water, biodiversity, pollution, and sustainable development. He also trains environmental journalists. He has reported earlier for Indo-Asian News Service, The Statesman, The Sunday Observer and Sunday Mail. Joydeep has a Master’s degree in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management from the University of York (UK), and has edited books on biodiversity loss and conservation, and on environmental studies.

Cecile Fruman is the Director, Regional Integration and Engagement in the South Asia Region (SAR). She is responsible for fostering collaborative activities amongst SAR countries and managing partnerships and engagements with SAR and global development partners.  

Previously, Cecile was Senior Manager for Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs) and Partner Relations in the Development Finance Vice-Presidency (DFi) where she oversaw a portfolio of FIFs that disbursed in the order of $6 billion a year in grants for key global development priorities to multiple implementation agencies and coordinated the World Bank’s strategic engagement with development partners.