Loretta Hieber Girardet is the Chief of the Risk Knowledge, Monitoring and Capacity-Development Branch covering risk information and analytics, climate change, disaster loss and monitoring data and capacity-building for UNDRR globally. Previously, she served as Chief of the UNDRR Asia-Pacific regional office, covering 38 of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Loretta served in various management positions at OCHA for over a decade before joining UNDRR, including overseeing the global Cluster coordination mechanism and having responsibility for IASC mechanisms on coordinated humanitarian needs assessments. She also has a background in public health and worked for the World Health Organization in various capacities, including in emergency contexts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa. Her experience in emergency contexts spans more than 25 years and she is the author of several publications including Lifeline Media: Reaching Populations in Crises which promotes greater accountability to people affected by disasters. Her academic background includes fellowships and degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health and University of Paris-Assas.