Navigating Disaster Management: Lessons from the Merapi Eruption in Indonesia

After gaining experience as a disaster management analyst, Fega worked on several projects related to disaster response and management. In 2023, encouraged by her colleagues, Fega joined the UNITAR Women’s Leadership in Tsunami-based Disaster Risk Reduction Training Programme for World Tsunami Awareness Day to further develop her professional's skills. 

The UNITAR training programme aimed to empower women from small island developing states, especially in the Pacific, and Asian countries with practical expertise and insights necessary for spearheading disaster risk reduction management initiatives that are both gender-inclusive and oriented to the whole of the community. 

The 2023 programme trained women leaders from 9 Pacific and other small island developing states and Asian countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand, Palau, Philippines, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga on gendered leadership and inclusive disaster risk reduction. Over 100 learners joined the first online learning phase, and Fega was among the top 19 performers invited to the regional workshop 2023 in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. This opportunity allowed Fega to further enhance her skills and knowledge in disaster management, with a focus on tsunami risk reduction and women’s leadership in crisis situations.