Dignity in Disasters

World Humanitarian Day Special: In August 2018, a catastrophe struck the Indian state of Kerala, casting a shadow of devastation. The Kerala floods claimed over 483 lives and displaced more than a million people, causing a loss of Rs 310 billion (31,000 crore). Amidst this backdrop, a remarkable group of women from various corners of India joined hands to coordinate a rescue campaign enabled by digital tools. This campaign resulted in safeguarding more than 9605 lives. But how did they manage this incredible feat? Who are these women?

In this episode, we delve into the stories of Namita, Jincy, and Pranay, who were integral members of this awe-inspiring citizens' group. They prove that anybody can be a humanitarian! These women were brought together by the first She Creates Change training program in 2017, previously organized by Change.org. The She Creates Change program is now a part of Nguvu Collective, and Namita, Jincy, and Pranay are Change Leaders of this collective.

As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, it is important that we build cities that are resilient to the challenges. To understand urban resilience better we had invited two guests for this episode of Dignity in Disasters which was recorded last year. The first guest is Mridula Garg an urban researcher who is interested in feminist and anti-caste ways of being and city making. She trained as an architect from Delhi and studied urbanism in Stuttgart and Cairo. She has worked on urban resilience projects at SEEDS, a non-profit organisation from India working to build the resilience of people exposed to disasters and climate change impacts. Our second guest is Bianca from Civic Data Lab where she is working across initiatives to explore more open, accessible and equitable ways in which technology can play a role in improving citizen engagement in everyday civic issues.

Rya is a young innovator and an advocate for refugee integration from Ghana. He has been home schooled in his entire life. But that did not mean he stopped learning. He speaks ten languages, including English, German, French, conversational Mandarin, and several local languages. Rya is the CEO of The RIO Corporation and the Director of Social Impact and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) at Maxwell Investments Group. He has leveraged cryptocurrency for humanitarian efforts. In this episode we speak to Rya about refugee integration, how the RIO Corporation has been using cryptocurrency to support various humanitarian programs and most importantly we want to learn how does this new kind of “cash” work.

More about our guest: Rya was the former Global Head for Equity and Inclusion for Refugees and Migrants for the Global Shapers Community of the World Economic Forum. He has spoken at the International Dialogue on Migration, the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) principal forum for migration policy dialogue and at events organised by the World Economic Forum and the African Union. He is a TEDx Speaker and a Fellow of the Amani Institute. His articles on economic development and refugee integration have been published by the World Economic Forum, Apolitical Academy, ThePrint, etc

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Disclaimer: The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

Before you hear this, do check out our full conversation with Udit Mittal here: https://anchor.fm/dignityindisasters/episodes/Udit-Mittal-Co-creating-resilient-structures-in-the-Sunderbans-e1bkbfs/a-a731b2s

I wanted to know from Udit what would be some 'words of wisdom' he would like to share with young architects who are just out of college. "Not everything is solved on the design table."

Shweta Sundar is an architect and urban planner. In this episode we dig in to her experience of working with a team which worked with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on drafting National Guidelines on Temporary Shelters for families affected and Training Masons for Hazard Resistant Construction in Jammu & Kashmir.

Shweta is currently pursuing her Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA. Trained as an architect in at School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, she has four years of practical, research and policy experience working in the field of post-disaster housing reconstruction, affordable housing, informal settlements and environmentally sustainable architecture designs, materials, and construction techniques. She is the cofounder of Lokal Habitat Labs, an architecture + urban research do-tank based in India. She is interested in understanding how the myriad lived-realities of communities inhabit rural and urban areas, and ways to empower them with the knowledge, opportunity and agency to inform and shape the built spaces that they inhabit. 

Kanij Fateema is an architect based in Dhaka, a city which I love because of my family's roots there. Kanij has previously worked for IOM-UN’s Migration Agency under Rohingya Response Project which is responding to the biggest humanitarian crisis in South Asia in the past decade. Soon after graduation, she founded Deshoj, a startup to address different urban issues that are affecting our quality of life. One of her notable projects is, CARE (Children’s Amusing Ride Environment), focused on making public buses of Dhaka friendly for children and women. What stands out in this episode is Kanij's dedication towards the people she has served through her craft and the sheer grit that an a person requires to work as a responder.

References:

1) Rohingya Crisis explained: https://www.unrefugees.org/news/rohingya-refugee-crisis-explained/

This episode is close to my heart for it is related to a campaign that I have been running to secure Menstrual Health and Hygiene of women in flood relief camps in Assam. Women on their period are at greater risk during floods because being displaced from homes means no access to clean cloth or sanitary napkins. Besides, stuffed in a crowded flood relief camp can be a nightmare for any woman on her period.  Nelson Deb is a close collaborator who has been working on disaster relief response during Assam Floods for many years, let's hear more about this silent need which we both are trying to address through our work.  

About our Guest:  Nelson Deb is a social entrepreneur and founder of The Eco Hub and the Founder President of Bodhana based in Assam. A Fuel Fellow and a partner with The Pad Project, Oscar Winner for the short film Period. End of sentence. His work was recognised amongst India's top three entrepreneurs by the U.S embassy, EDII and the Oklahoma University for a American Fellows Exchange Program for the year 2020. Nelson has been working in the social and development sector for the last 9 years. His work mainly focuses on livelihood generation through his social enterprise and WASH, Menstrual Hygiene Management and Gender through the NGO. His work has received accolades nationally and internationally by several Governmental, Non-governmental organisations and media houses.