A special session, co-organized by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and UN Women, underscored the critical need for inclusive and data-driven disaster risk reduction (DRR) in light of escalating disaster risks fueled by climate change.

The discussion centered on the Sendai Gender Action Plan, launched in March 2024, which highlights the importance of disaggregated data, particularly by sex, to understand better and mitigate the disproportionate impact of disasters on women and girls. Government representatives from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Tonga participated in the roundtable, sharing their challenges in collecting, analyzing, and utilizing disaggregated data for DRR. They also discussed strategies for enhancing gender-responsive disaster management, drawing from case studies and lessons learned. The session emphasized the need to integrate gender-sensitive data into Sendai Framework reporting. Additionally, tools developed by ADPC under the SERVIR Southeast Asia projects could significantly support these efforts. The Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) of ADPC could be used as a regional platform to enhance sub-regional collaboration and provide technical support.

The Sendai Framework Monitor Online Orientation Course, developed jointly by UNDRR and ADPC, with multi-lingual support for all UN official languages, was also re-launched to highlight the effort to continue capacity development on Sendai reporting.