Supriya Akerkar

Supriya Akerkar is a senior lecturer in disaster risk reduction, Oxford Brookes University, UK. Her research is applied and has made several policy and practice based contributions on issues of social inclusion. Her latest publication, the Good Practice Guide: Embedding Inclusion of Older People and People with disabilities in Humanitarian Policy and Practice is based on her work as the lead researcher for the Age and Disability Capacity Programme, a consortium of international development organizations working in humanitarian emergencies. She has published several articles on gender, recovery and resilience building in disasters. Her PhD, completed in 2011, examined social entitlement policy and practices in the context of disaster response in India. This research has been published in leading social science journals such as World Development and Disasters.

Prior to joining academia, Akerkar has worked with social movements and international development organizations such as Action Aid International and DFID on issues of social equity. She led the recovery work for Action Aid International following the earthquake in Gujarat, India in 2001 and actions for communal harmony and justice for those affected in communal violence in Gujarat, India in 2002. She was also the policy and advocacy lead for Action Aid International, Ethiopia. Akerkar has also written extensively during this time, contributing to policy and practice related debates in disasters, humanitarianism and social development. Akerkar has over 20 years experience as an academic and a critical practitioner. She holds a undergraduate degree in law, and a postgraduate degree in development studies, from the Institute of Social Studies, Hague, Netherlands.