Lidra Remacka

Co-founder of SF 2008

https://www.sustainabilityfrontiers.ca/

Lidra Remacka is an international consultant, trainer and researcher on Education in Emergencies, Conflict Disaster Risk Reduction (CDRR), Psychosocial Support, Inclusive Education, a high school teacher for Halton District School Board, Ontario, Canada, and a founding member of Sustainability Frontiers.

She was previously (2001-3) a Research Assistant in Global Citizenship Education at the International Institute for Global Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (IIGE), University of Toronto, Canada, and received a SOROS Foundation award in 2002 for her Masters’ dissertation, Global Citizenship Education in Albania. She also developed a human rights physical education program for girls in Afghanistan funded by Right to Play, Toronto (2004).

Lidra was the principal on-the-ground consultant for the 2002-5 UNICEF CARK (Central Asian Republics and Kazakhstan) Global Education Initiative orchestrated from IIGE and, latterly, the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom. The UNICEF CARK Initiative was directed at national curriculum and pedagogical reform towards the child-friendly school in the five countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), embedding civic, environmental, global, and human rights themes in the curriculum and helping teachers facilitate the new learning using interactive pedagogies.

She has undertaken similar on-site child-friendly education consultancy work, often in conjunction with UNICEF, in Albania, Brazil, Canada, Iran, Kosovo, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia

Lidra has facilitated conference and workshop sessions on civic, environmental and global education for various international organizations, government bodies and non-governmental organizations. In addition to UNICEF, she has acted as a consultant for the EU, USAID, Earth Rangers (Toronto), Save the Children Fund, World Vision, and Caritas (2000-2009).

She was a nominee for the Ontario Premier’s Award of Teaching Excellence, 2008-2009, and also for the Halton District School Board Award of Excellence, 2009-10.

In 2015 she was on-the-ground team leader of the research on disability amongst internally displaced Muslim children living in camps or camp-like conditions in Rakhine State for Save the Children Myanmar.

In 2015-2018 she has undertaken a multi-national (Senegal, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Chad) field consultancy on behalf of the UNICEF Western and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) Education in Emergencies initiative, aimed at embedding psychosocial support for children living in situations of emergency and crisis into classroom practice. She has conducted global, ecological, Psychosocial Support, Conflict Disaster Risk Reduction and sustainability education workshops in Albania, Kosovo, Central Asia, the Middle East, West and Central Africa, and Canada.

Lidra has been conducting a July 2018 to December 2019 Education in Emergencies consultancy for the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Safe School Programme aimed at mitigating natural disaster and climate change risks by building the strengths of regional Ministries of Education and Disaster Preparedness Offices.

She also, has acted as a keynote speaker at the University of Tirana and other non-state universities promoting the inclusive school movement in Albania and Resilience education at University of Maiduguri in Nigeria.

Lidra joined UNICEF Cameroon country office as an education specialist from April 2020-2022) based in Yaoundé. She supported both Ministry of Education of Elementary and Secondary school to implementation of Safe School Programmes.

Currently she is working as an education consultant for UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office and ‘Safe To Learn’ supporting Ministries of Education of Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam ending violence in schools by improving learning outcomes and promoting Mental Health and Psychosocial Support.

She is a citizen of both Canada and Albania and lives with her family in southern Ontario.