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Harjeet Singh
Key Competency Areas
- Programme design and management
- Participatory approaches
- Training and facilitation
- Planning, M&E and coordination
- Alliance building, lobbying and advocacy
- Communication and media
Organization : ActionAid International (AAI)
Designation
: International Coordinator – Disaster Risk Reduction & Climate Adaptation
Duration
: February 2012 - till date
Responsibilities:
 Support quality programme design and coordinates multi-country projects to achieve resilience
to disaster and climate change as per ActionAid’s global strategy.
 Develop resource materials and facilitate learning and sharing between programme staff and
advocacy and campaigns work.
 Promote coherence between local, national and international work on climate adaptation and
disaster risk reduction (DRR).
Key highlights:
 Providing strategic direction to the resilience programme and developing a shared
understanding of approach and focus areas.
 Developing frameworks, methodologies and tools to promote learning and assist country
programmes in enhancing their capacity to deepen quality of resilience programmes.
 Raising funds for country programmes and international policy work, in partnership with the
funding affiliates, particularly ActionAid UK, USA and Australia.
 Managing 4 four multi-country projects on resilience worth over £2 million and managing a
multicultural team of 5 senior professionals based across the globe.
 Strengthening alliances by contributing as the steering group member of GNDR (Global Network
for Disaster Reduction) and co-chairing international adaptation group of Climate Action
Network (CAN).
 Strengthening and promoting the participatory Reflection Action methodology in the federation,
as a resource person and steering group member.
 Leading AA’s DRR and climate policy and advocacy work and have been successful in making
ActionAid a ‘go to’ agency on the issue of climate induced loss and damage.
Previous roles in ActionAid International:
Designation
: International Climate Justice Coordinator
Emergencies & Conflict Advisor- Asia & Americas
Policy Advisor
(Jan 2011 to Jan 2012)
(August 2009 to December 2010)
(November 2007 to July 2009)
Responsibilities:
 Support long term emergency and conflict work among a cluster of countries and help them
integrate emergency and human security issues into programme design, policy, training and
fundraising.
 Generate, inform and articulate analysis of emergency related policy issues with focus on
Climate Change Adaptation, DRR and interlinks of these with food policy and campaign.
 Promote, support and enhance Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and DRR programming and
advocacy across ActionAid and support policy work at the national level.
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 Conduct research to inform and influence the policy advocacy work and carry out direct
advocacy in partnership with ActionAid country programmes with regard to climate change
adaptation, DRR and emergency issues.
 Provide leadership for AAI’s international climate advocacy & coordinate the core climate team.
Key highlights:
 Supported emergency response work in Asia and Americas, particularly in Afghanistan, China,
Haiti, Guatemala, Indonesia, India, Palestine and Thailand.
 Provided technical inputs on emergency response and DRR and developed policy messages to
influence international and regional policymakers.
 Supported DRR/CCA work and conducted trainings in Myanmar, Malawi, India, Bangladesh and
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Solomon Islands.
 Coordinated and published 5-country (Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, Malawi and Vietnam) research
study on linkages between CCA and sustainable agriculture, with special focus on women.
 Presented papers/reports on DRR and CCA in regional and international forums in Bangladesh,
Denmark, Germany, India, Mexico, Nepal, Panama, Poland, Switzerland & Thailand.
 Led AAI’s climate policy and advocacy work as part of international climate campaign.
 Coordinated AAI’s core climate team and led the delegation in intersessions and UN climate
conference at Durban and participated in all key UN climate negotiation sessions since 2008.
 Appointed as co-chair of Climate Action Network (CAN) International’s adaptation group.
 Networking and collective lobbying initiatives with global and regional alliances, social
movements and networks on agriculture and climate adaptation.
 Facilitated formulation of DRR policy strategy linking local to international level.
 Supervised development of systems to monitor and evaluate AAI’s own carbon footprint.
Organization : ActionAid India
Designation
: Team Leader (Andaman & Nicobar Islands)
Duration
: June 2005 – November 2007
Responsibilities:
 Manage the Tsunami Response Programme in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
 Coordinate the International Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Initiative across tsunami affected
countries – Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and India.
 As senior member of International Tsunami Team, provide regular support to national and
international Tsunami Response Programme on policy, programme and management issues.
Key highlights:
 Managed £3 million Tsunami response programme with a team of over 150 staff members in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Led the delegation of national and international development
agencies in A&N Islands to submit memorandum on tsunami rehabilitation issues to the Prime
Minister of India.
 Facilitated several trainings on Participatory Vulnerability Analysis (PVA), disaster preparedness
and management for ActionAid team members and partner orgnanisations.
 Coordinated the regional Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Initiative across tsunami affected
countries – Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and India and led the preparation of
International and India’s DRR People’s reports.
 Conducted DRR trainings in Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Thailand for government
and non government agencies.
 Represented ActionAid International in the UN/ISDR Global Platform meetings in Geneva in
2007 and raised relevant policy issues.
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Designation
: Programme Officer, Lucknow Regional Office
Duration
: August 2002 – May 2005
Responsibilities:
 Managed state community health initiative in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, in partnership
with the State governments and European Commission.
 Worked on various development projects such as health sector reform, community based
rehabilitation of person with disabilities and contributed in other programmes for poor and
marginalized communities.
 Developed monitoring and evaluation systems, provided technical and management support to
several development partners of ActionAid in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand; and facilitated
the network of NGO partners.
 Spearheaded the State level policy advocacy programme on disability in Uttar Pradesh along
with NGO partners and supported various other campaigns.
Organization : GIVE Foundation
Designation
: Deputy Manager
Duration
: July 2000 – July 2002
Responsibilities:
 Appraisal of NGOs and their project based activities for enlisting them on the online donation
channel at www.GiveIndia.org.
 Monitoring and Capacity building of NGOs on Reporting and Donor Management Systems.
 Resource mobilization for NGOs through marketing and promotion of the social development
portal.
Organization : SRISTI
Designation
: Research Associate
Duration
: May’ 99 – July 2000
Responsibilities:
 Conducted the anthropological study of tribal and migrant communities for the Global
Environmental Facility (GEF) / UNDP funded project “Conservation & Sustainable Management
of Dryland Biodiversity” in North Gujarat, under the guidance of Prof. Anil K Gupta, Indian
Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Publications (authored/reviewed/contributed):
 Tackling the Climate Reality: A framework for establishing an international mechanism to
address loss and damage at COP19; November 2013, Doreen Stabinsky
 Discussion Paper on human rights based approach to resilience, May 2013, Harjeet Singh and
Jessica Faleiro
 A Climate for Change: Understanding women’s vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate;
December 2012, Kate Morioka
 Tackling the Limits to Adaptation: An International Framework to address ‘Loss And Damage’
from Climate Change Impacts; November 2012, Doreen Stabinsky
 Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture: A real Alternative to False solution; June 2012, Youjin
Chung
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 Into Unknown Territory: The limits to adaptation and reality of loss and damage from climate
impacts; May 2012, Tom Sharman
 The Characteristics of Resilience Building: A discussion paper; April 2012, Rachel Fox, Harjeet
Singh, Kate Crowley et al
 Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Agriculture in the Changing Climate; June 2011, Harjeet Singh
 Access to Energy for the Poor: The Clean Energy Option; June 2011, Elizabeth Bast and Srinivas
Krishnaswamy
 Community Based Adaptation: Communicating it Right; April 2011, Harjeet Singh
 Community based adaptation – a new opportunity for social justice; March 2011, Harjeet Singh
 Humanitarian Response Logistics: Applying the Rights Based Approach, 2010, Harjeet Singh
 Empowering women as community leaders in disaster risk reduction; 2008, Harjeet Singh,
Emma Turner and Marion Khamis.
Qualification and trainings:
 Postgraduate diploma in Management from FMS-Indian Institute of Rural Management (IIRM),
Jaipur; 1997-99.
 Postgraduate diploma in Public Relations from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Jaipur; 1997-98.
 Received trainings on participatory approaches, emergency response, DRR and fundraising.
Personal Details:
Nationality
Languages Known
Contact details
Date: May 2014
: Indian
: English, Hindi, Gujarati & Punjabi
: harjeet.singh@actionaid.org ; +91- 98100 36864 (India mobile)
Harjeet Singh
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