Duryog Nivaran Secretariat c/o Janathakshan, No 5, Lionel Edirisinghe Mawatha, Kirulapone, Colombo 00500, Sri Lanka
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Duryog Nivaran Secretariat c/o Janathakshan, No 5, Lionel Edirisinghe Mawatha, Kirulapone, Colombo 00500, Sri Lanka
Muhammad Taher, a founding member of Duryog Nivaran from Bangladesh, has served as the organization’s Chair since 2022. He brings extensive experience as an independent research and evaluation consultant, advising various civil society initiatives. During the 1980s and 90s, Taher held prominent positions in national and international organizations, including the UK-based charity Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG, now Practical Action), the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), and Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB).
With a focus on social development and management consultancy in recent years, Taher has conducted evaluations on numerous programs and projects, and has contributed to policy studies in development. Currently, he actively participates as a member of the Independent Review Panel (IRP) for Accountable Now (AN: https://accountablenow.org/who-we-are/team/), the Bangladesh Bio-char Initiative (BBI), and USPT (https://usptrust.org/), an educational program benefiting underprivileged children.
Madhavi is a seasoned development professional with over 25 years of experience and dual M.Sc. degrees in Agriculture Economics and Agronomy. Her professional interests include political economy of development, gender equality, social inclusion, and resilience to disaster and climate risks. She has held pivotal roles across government, civil society, and United Nations organizations, focusing notably on disaster risk management programs in South Asia.
Madhavi led the Disaster Mitigation programme at the ITDG South Asia and the Micro Enterprises project in the UNDP Sri Lanka’s Tsunami Recovery Programme. During her tenure at the United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), she held senior management positions in the Asia Pacific and Central Asia and South Caucasus regions.
Madhavi’s extensive publications cover topics ranging from disaster risk and sustainable development, resilient livelihoods, gender and social inclusion, and disaster communication. In recognition of her contributions, Madhavi received the prestigious ‘Mary Fran Myers’ Award in 2004 for her pioneering work in gender inclusion within disaster risk management.
Currently serving on the Board of Directors of Duryog Nivaran – South Asia Network for Disaster Mitigation, Madhavi is based in Sri Lanka and engages as a Senior Expert in national and international strategic, policy, and programmatic initiatives in technical and advisory capacities.
Ramona is a Development Communications Specialist, with a keen interest and involvement in participatory development approaches, appropriate technologies, DRR and gender. Ramona has over 20 years’ experience in South Asia, in full time and part positions in development organizations such as UN-Habitat and Practical Action. Ramona holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Peradeniya and a Master of Arts in Communication from the Ohio State University.
She has worked in the media in print, radio and online before moving to the development sector. She currently holds the voluntary post of Director/Steering Committee member of Duryog Nivaran, a South Asian network for disaster mitigation, advocating development-DRR links, with a focus on gender, technology and communication aspects. As Duryog Nivaran leads the Gender Stakeholder Group of the UNDRR Asia Pacific Partnership, Ramona has been engaged with it over the years.
Achyut brings over three decades of invaluable experience in the development sector. Originally trained as a civil engineer in India, he furthered his academic pursuits with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and Sociology. His career began in the government sector, specializing as a WASH and Irrigation Engineer. However, in 1994, Achyut transitioned to the Development Aid sector, joining Helvetas.
At Helvetas, he distinguished himself by leading the WASH portfolio and carrying out a pilot program on Integrated Water Resources Management Approach, which was adopted nationwide.
His expertise then drew him to the design team of DFID’s transport and livelihood program in 2000. Starting as Deputy Team Leader, he quickly advanced to Team Leader, a role he held until early 2006.
In March 2006, Achyut assumed the role of Country Director for Practical Action in Nepal Practical Action, where he made significant contributions. His leadership skills were further recognized in 2012 when he took on the responsibility of South Asia Regional Director, a role which he held until March 2023. Throughout his tenure, Achyut has been instrumental in leading Practical Action’s development management programmes and projects in Nepal, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka. Currently, he is supporting Practical Action’s Bangladesh Office as the Interim Director.
He has also served as the Chairperson of Association of INGOs working in Nepal (AIN) and also been an adviser of Disaster Preparedness Network (DPNet) of Nepal.
He is one of the steering committee members of Duryog Nivaran since 2014
Karin Fernando is a Senior Research Professional at the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA). Her area of expertise are natural resource management, sustainable development and poverty. Her work aims to understand and analyze the interrelationships between natural resources, poor people and conservation. This work aims to provide better integration of environmental factors into decision making, planning and programming at all levels so that a more sustainable development trajectory can be put in place. She has over 20 years of experience in the development sector with different stakeholders in project management, implementation and research. Karin has an MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University, USA and a BSc in Environmental Science from Allegheny College, USA.
Karin is one of the steering committee members of Duryog Nivaran
Mihir has worked on reducing disaster risk, climate change resilience, and humanitarian action in India and surrounding countries since 1995. He is a founding member and twice Chair of Duryog Nivaran (DN). He has been active under the DN theme Understanding Vulnerability in the light of amplifying the voices of the victims, early warning system, and gender. Most recently he contributed to DN’s work on the intersectionality of gender, pandemic, and resilience in South Asia. Currently, he is working with All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) on extreme events such as heat, cyclones, and floods.