Dr Mayeda Rashid

"I have a passion for children. I've always wanted to work with them while studying disaster risk reduction," Mayeda says.

Fifty-three children were involved in the first phase of Mayeda’s research, where they were involved in designing an education program through focus group discussions.

“The program has been designed by children. They know what they want to learn and how they want to learn,” Mayeda says. “Children want to share their learning with their friends and family members, which is really important because of the large number of children who do not attend school in Bangladesh.”

Mayeda has also worked with practitioners from both government and non-government organisations in Bangladesh to better understand what their needs are for effective disaster education. She piloted her program in Tarua, her home village in Bangladesh.

Mayeda has presented her research findings at the CRC’s Research Forum in 2018, as well as a Three Minute Thesis at Research Driving Change – Showcase 2017. She has also authored a chapter about child-centred disaster risk reduction in the book Education in Times of Environmental Crisis: Teaching Children to be Agents of Change, published in 2016.

Mayeda’s thesis was ranked in the top 10 per cent globally in her field. As a result, she has been recognised as a Global Talent by the Department of Home Affairs under the Global Talent Independent program. Mayeda now works as Partnerships Coordinator at DPV Health for the Victorian Government’s Community Activation and Social Isolation program.