Fathim Rashna Kallingal

Fathim Rashna Kallingal is the Technical Advisor (Urban and Regional Development Advisor) in the Sustainable Urban Development- Smart Cities II (SUDSC II) project, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project supports the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India along with the partner states (and cities) of Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telengana in developing resilient, sustainable approaches for urban development. As a City Coordinator of SUDSC II project, Fathim supports the implementing of the concepts of risk-informed, integrated, resilient and sustainable urban development in the partner city of Kochi (Kerala).

As the Gender Focal Person (GFP) for the project, Fathim has initiated activities towards mainstreaming Gender, Diversity and Inclusion in the SUDSC II project activities as well. Fathim is responsible for guiding the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the gender related indicators of the project. Fathim is also the GFP for the Sustainable Urban and Industrial Development (SUID) Cluster of GIZ India and leads the activities of the SUID Cluster Working Group on Gender, Diversity and Inclusion. At the country level, Fathim is an active member of GIZ India Country Action Task Force for Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Sexual Harassment Redressal Committee (SHRC) GIZ India.

Fathim graduated Architecture from Kerala University in 2004 and completed Master of Planning (Urban planning) in 2017 from National Institute of Technology Calicut, India. As an Architect and Urban Planner, Fathim had been working at various places including India and U.A.E. As an academician, Fathim had been visiting several institutions in Kerala as Faculty of Design and Planning. Fathim is also pursuing PhD (part time) from Department of Architecture and Planning, National Institute of Technology Calicut in the field of regional development and planning focusing on regional inequalities in social development.

Coming from a progressive thinking family background, which nurtured the concept of equality in her and always stood for the suppressed, raising voice against any kind of inequality or injustice, Fathim considers this enabling environment as her strength which encourages her to think differently and supports her conscious effort to break any unconscious biases. Fathim’s motivation has always been the feminists and allies in her life and her hope is her children who will change the mindset of the generation, breaking the so-called ‘norms’ and ‘stereotypes’.

An active listener, with an attention to detail, possessing empathic skills along with soft skills such as creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, analytical and logical thinking skills, Fathim is further supported by the GIZ working environment to pursue her passion towards creating a mindset change for mainstreaming gender, diversity and inclusion.