Shaila Shahid from Bangladesh has won the 2023 WIN DRR Leadership Award for Excellence in Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia-Pacific Region by UNDRR, the United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction. The award was officially handed over to her by the Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and UNDRR head Ms. Mami Mizutori at the launching of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on DRR, APMDRR in Manilla, Philippines on 13th October on the occasion of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, IDDR day.
Shaila Shahid said, “I have worked to redefine the narratives of building resilience by underpinning it with the people’s priorities, development justice and reducing the inequalities. Therefore, we need to continue working on risk interdependencies across ministries and private sectors.”
Shaila Shahid based in Dhaka, Bangladesh is the Advisory board members of the Tomorrow’s Cities, the Urban Disaster Risk Hub of the UKRI and GCRF initiative, working globally to reduce the disaster risks for the urban poor. Shaila, an environmental lawyer currently serving as the senior advisor of the Pitachara Forest and Biodiversity Initiatives and National Alliance on Drowning Prevention. She is also one of the board of Directors of GenderCC, global network of women for climate justice. With an impressive background as the immediate former Chief Operating Officer of the Disaster Climate Change Unit (DCCSU) within the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) of the Bangladesh Government, and as a Senior Advisor at the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Shaila brings a wealth of knowledge and experience on building community resilience and influencing institutional framework towards a risk informed governance mechanism.