Stéphania is an academic and MPhil candidate at the Islands and Small States (ISS) at the University of Malta. She has a BA in English and Sociology from UNISA, an MSc in Sustainable Development (Climate Change and Risk Management) from the University of Exeter and an MA in Regional Integration from the University of Mauritius. Her research interests include climate change adaptation, socioecological resilience of rural communities, transformation, community participation and rural livelihoods. She is currently a UNFCCC CAPACITY Fellow at the UN Secretariat for Climate Change in Bonn, Germany. In this current position, she supports the capacity-building negotiations at the UNFCCC conferences and the work of the Paris Committee on Capacity-building (PCCB), a constituted body that serves the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement and engages in a number of internal and external initiatives related to capacity-building. Stéphania is one of the leading young women and changemaker in Rodrigues Island. She has also founded two NGOs in Rodrigues, namely, SIDS Youth AIMS Hub (SYAH)-Rodrigues and Global Shapers Community Rodrigues. She is outspoken about the role and power of youth in creating solutions to global challenges and is enthusiast at pushing the agenda of climate change adaptation and development in SIDS.
