WIN DRR Awards spotlight women leaders turning global commitments into inclusive, locally-led disaster resilience in Samoa and the Philippines

The Women’s International Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (WIN DRR) Leadership Awards 2026 have been granted to Ms Mata’afa Fa’atino Utumapu of Samoa, General Manager of Nuanua O Le Alo (NOLA) and Female Co-Chair of the Pacific Disability Forum, and Ms Aileen Kesa Marie Hualde of the Philippines, Executive Director of the Women Organization of Rajah Mamalu Descendants (WORMD), in recognition of their contributions to strengthening inclusive disaster resilience and advancing women’s leadership in communities facing multiple and intersecting risks.

Announced during an online ceremony, the awards spotlight women leaders who are driving inclusive and locally led approaches to disaster risk reduction across Asia and the Pacific. They recognize leadership that brings diverse expertise and lived experience needed to enhance disaster risk decision-making, helping communities better understand risk, shape solutions and build resilience.

For the first time, the WIN DRR Leadership Awards are being explicitly linked to implementation of the Sendai Framework’s Gender Action Plan, connecting recognition of women’s leadership with practical action to advance inclusive disaster risk reduction. The 2026 awardees demonstrate what this means in practice, from strengthening disability inclusion and Indigenous leadership to advancing locally-led preparedness, response and recovery in communities facing intersecting risks of conflict, displacement and disasters.

Excellence Award winner Mata’afa Fa’atino Utumapu has spent more than a decade advancing the leadership and participation of persons with disabilities in disaster risk reduction, climate resilience and humanitarian action across Samoa and the Pacific region. Through her work at NOLA, Samoa’s national organization of persons with disabilities, and the Pacific Disability Forum, she has helped integrate gender equality and disability inclusion into disaster preparedness, response and recovery. She has also championed disability-disaggregated data to inform policy and planning, contributing to Samoa’s efforts to systematically collect disability data through national surveys and its census. At NOLA, she established a Disability-Inclusive Disaster Response Team and led the development of a disability-inclusive disaster preparedness and emergency management framework, helping strengthen the role of organizations of persons with disabilities in disaster planning and response.

“Disaster risk reduction is not inclusive if women and people with disabilities are only seen as those to protect rather than leaders shaping solutions”, Ms Utumapu says. “Through NOLA’s work, we turn lived experiences into leadership, ensuing their voices influence decisions.”

Rising Star Award winner Aileen Kesa Marie Hualde is an Indigenous women’s rights, peacebuilding and humanitarian practitioner working at the intersection of conflict, displacement and disaster response in Mindanao, southern Philippines. As Executive Director of the Indigenous women-led organization WORMD and an Indigenous leader herself, she champions Indigenous women’s leadership in communities facing overlapping crises. Ms Hualde helped establish and build the capacity of Community Quick Response Teams across 11 barangays , bringing together volunteers, youth and Indigenous leaders to strengthen community preparedness and crisis response. Her work connects community-led action with broader efforts to advance women’s rights, prevent gender-based violence and promote peacebuilding. By helping Indigenous women participate in local decision-making and respond to crises in their communities, she is advancing locally led approaches that recognize the interconnected nature of disaster risk, conflict and displacement.

“I am inspired by the strength of Indigenous women and communities, their courage motivates me to continue serving, empowering women, and building resilient communities”, Ms Hualde says.

The WIN DRR Leadership Awards recognize women’s achievements in disaster risk reduction across the Asia-Pacific region. They form part of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s flagship women’s leadership initiative, the Women’s International Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (WIN DRR), supported by the Government of Australia.

Now in their sixth year, the awards recognize women in two categories: the Excellence Award, sponsored by SM Prime Holdings and worth US$10,000, and the Rising Star Award, worth US$7,500. Together, they celebrate women whose leadership and expertise are helping make disaster risk reduction more inclusive and effective across the region.