Dr. Betty Barkha is an international development expert with a focus on gender equality, disability, and social inclusion. Currently serving as the Technical Advisor on Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion for Save the Children in the Pacific, she is instrumental in implementing two of the largest GCF-supported climate adaptation projects in the region. 

Prior to her current role, Betty was a Research Fellow at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, where she was on the project team for the Investing in Women in Southeast Asia project. She has previously collaborated with renowned organisations including Human Rights Watch, FHI360, and the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development. 

A dedicated advocate for women's rights, Dr. Barkha has held leadership positions on various global boards, she was the inaugural co-chair of the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) board and has served on the boards of CIVICUS and the Association of Women in Development (AWID). Additionally, she has provided advisory support to the Minderoo Foundation, the FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, Mamacash and the Global Resilience Fund. 

Betty's PhD thesis, "Cascading Tides, Invading Lives," delved into the gendered impacts of climate change-induced displacement and planned relocation in Fiji, which later informed the developed of the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility and development of the UNSW Kaldor Centre Climate Mobility Hub. Her educational background includes a Masters of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology. She was also the Monash University's GPS Visiting Youth Fellow in Women's Rights in Asia and the Pacific in 2017.