Shahida Arif  has over 12 years of experience in the Humanitarian programming, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and specialises in Community Based Disaster Risk Management, School Based Disaster Risk Management and Donors and Stakeholders coordination, Gender in Emergencies, DRR policy, Planning and budgeting.  In her latest role as a Learning Advisor for Asia in Disaster Emergency Preparedness Learning Project. She works with all the DEPP Projects supported by START Network and CDAC Network and UKAID in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines, Pakistan and Thailand. She is supporting the whole programme and all the projects to maximise the uptake and impact of its evidence. She is also playing a role of partnership-broker for learning, ensuring that each project’s individual experience is contributing to a collective understanding, network-builders, connecting people at regional and country levels to create a dense web of humanitarian practitioners.

She was also involved in piloting Disaster Risk Management Concepts in Pakistan through One UN DRM JP, National Disaster Risk Management ERRA, and Institutional Strengthening, NDMA at National, Provincial and District Levels. She has been involved in Earthquake, Floods and Tsunami Hazard Specific Assessment, DRR and contingency Planning and research with UNDP, UNESCO, World Bank and NDMA. She remained part of major emergency responses i.e. Earthquake 2005 (IFRC), Floods & Cyclone 2007 (CARE), Floods 2010 (NDMA/UNDP), Floods 2011, 12 & 14 (Save the Children) and IDPs 2012 (Save the Children); 

She also played a leading role in the establishment and strengthening of National DRR Forum in Pakistan. She also chaired this forum from 2012-2014. 

Internationally, she worked with UNISDR for HFA, Safer Schools and Hospitals Campaign, START Network, CDAC Network, Save the Children Albania, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kosovo and Turkey on various aspects of DRM.   

Shahida Arif has a degree/Masters in Social Sciences, while she specialised in Disaster Risk Reduction, Policy, Planning and Budgeting from Denmark (supported by DANIDA).