Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Meet Takena Redfern, winner of the 2025 WIN DRR Leadership Award and a driving force behind inclusive, gender-responsive, and people-centred disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Kiribati, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations. 🇰🇮✨
As Acting Director of the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division in the Office of the President, Redfern is leading transformative change. Under her leadership, Kiribati launched the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative in 2025, strengthening legally grounded, multi-hazard early warning systems that ensure no one is left behind.
She is advancing all four pillars of effective early warning systems:
• Risk knowledge
• Monitoring and forecasting
• Dissemination and communication
• Preparedness and response
A strong advocate for gender equality, disability inclusion, and data-driven decision-making, Redfern ensures that women, girls, and persons with disabilities are actively engaged in national DRR policies and planning. She also leads efforts to mobilize climate finance—from the Green Climate Fund to CREWS—and has championed innovative solutions such as parametric insurance for droughts to support fishermen, farmers, and small businesses.
With over two decades of public service, Redfern continues to shape a more resilient future for Kiribati and the Pacific.
🔗 Learn more: undrr.org/news/win-drr-leadership-awards-2025-meet-years-excellence-award-finalists
Meet Takena Redfern, winner of the 2025 WIN DRR Leadership Award and a driving force behind inclusive, gender-responsive, and people-centred disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Kiribati, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations. 🇰🇮✨
As Acting Director of the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division in the Office of the President, Redfern is leading transformative change. Under her leadership, Kiribati launched the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative in 2025, strengthening legally grounded, multi-hazard early warning systems that ensure no one is left behind.
She is advancing all four pillars of effective early warning systems:
• Risk knowledge
• Monitoring and forecasting
• Dissemination and communication
• Preparedness and response
A strong advocate for gender equality, disability inclusion, and data-driven decision-making, Redfern ensures that women, girls, and persons with disabilities are actively engaged in national DRR policies and planning. She also leads efforts to mobilize climate finance—from the Green Climate Fund to CREWS—and has championed innovative solutions such as parametric insurance for droughts to support fishermen, farmers, and small businesses.
With over two decades of public service, Redfern continues to shape a more resilient future for Kiribati and the Pacific.
🔗 Learn more: undrr.org/news/win-drr-leadership-awards-2025-meet-years-excellence-award-finalists
