Women key to dealing with disaster risks: UN Women official

She added that women should be facilitated to lead the implementation of disaster risk reduction priorities in the region as well as in each country and locality.

Roberta Clarke made the remark at the Regional Asia-Pacific Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction in Hanoi on May 16.

The event was attended by representatives from the Vietnamese Government, ministries and institutes, international organisations, and specialists from 22 countries.

Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said it is a fact in his country that women are the first persons to gear up their families for natural disasters, and also the first to bring the life of their communities back to normal.

Phat, who chairs Vietnam’s central steering committee for natural disaster prevention and control, called for all countries’ coordination to integrate gender perspectives into road maps for the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015 – 2030).

The Sendai Framework was adopted at the third UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015. It says: “A gender, age, disability and cultural perspective should be integrated in all policies and practices, and women and youth leadership should be promoted.”

The Asia – Pacific nations are devising action plans on carrying out the Sendai Framework.

During the three-day conference, participants will discuss measures for enhancing gender equality and promoting women’s leadership in priorities such as knowledge about disaster risks; strengthening disaster risk management; investing in response, recovery and adaptation during disaster risk reduction; and increasing preparations for effective response, recovery and rebuilding.

They will also mull over the connection between natural disasters and climate change, the role of climate change prevention in addressing challenges in disaster risk reduction and promoting gender equality through community-based disaster risk management.