The need for such training remains urgent. The 2023 UNDRR Global Disasters and Disability Survey revealed that, despite growing global commitments, progress in disability inclusion within disaster risk reduction has remained largely unchanged over the past decade. Persons with disabilities continue to be excluded from decision-making and emergency planning in many countries. Trainings like this one are helping to build capacity and awareness, contributing to longer-term efforts to make disaster risk reduction more inclusive and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) lead.
Leaders from OPDs across seven countries in Asia gathered in Bangkok to learn, teach, and collaborate in the Training of Trainers on Urban Resilience and Disability Inclusion, organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Regional Office for Asia-Pacific with support from the UNDRR Global Education and Training Institute.
The training aimed to build the capacity of OPDs to champion inclusion in disaster risk reduction and urban resilience planning, using UNDRR’s Disability-Inclusive Scorecard Annex — a practical tool that helps cities assess how well they include persons with disabilities in their disaster and resilience strategies.
Learning differently
“This is not a typical training,” smiled Talal Waheed, UNDRR’s Disability Inclusion Advisor, as he opened one session. “Raise your voice in my session, not your hands.”
As a facilitator who is blind, Waheed encouraged participants to signal verbally when they wanted to speak — a small adjustment that made the discussion accessible to all.
Throughout the three days, participants worked in groups to apply the Scorecard’s indicators — from governance and risk assessment to critical infrastructure and response planning. They debated what inclusion really means in practice, identified common gaps across their cities and countries, and shared creative approaches to make local disaster risk reduction plans accessible to all.
Supported by facilitators from UNDRR and an OPD, the sessions were interactive and practical. Participants didn’t just learn how to use the Scorecard — they learned how to teach it to others, gaining the confidence to lead similar workshops in their own countries and communities.
Turning knowledge into action
By the end of the training, the results were clear. Post-training surveys showed a sharp increase in participants’ understanding of inclusive disaster risk reduction, with knowledge scores rising from 64–72% to 87–96%. But beyond numbers, it was the participants’ plans that indicated the training’s real future impact.
In Bangladesh, Anika Rahman Lipy, Assistant Director at the Center for Disability in Development, plans to build the capacity of local OPDs to use the Scorecard themselves. Her goal is to conduct a joint assessment of inclusive urban resilience with the national disaster management office — starting in Dhaka and Sabhar, in partnership with women-led OPDs.
In the Philippines, the OPD Life Haven will put the training into action through a project in Baguio City, implemented with UNDRR and supported by the Global Disability Fund, to strengthen disability-inclusive urban disaster risk reduction and early warning systems.
“Knowledge is power,” said Karen Joy A. Lang-ay, from Baguio’s Persons with Disability Affairs Office. “When persons with disabilities learn, they become powerful agents of change.”
For Joaozito dos Santos from Ra'es Hadomi Timor Oan, an OPD from Timor-Leste, the training provided an opportunity to understand how to involve diverse stakeholders and validate real needs”
A collective effort
The training was made possible through the generous support of the Government of Australia, the Government of Germany through the Global Disability Fund, and the Government of the Republic of Korea, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Incheon Metropolitan City.
It also reflected a wider global effort under Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) — a UNDRR-led initiative helping cities worldwide strengthen resilience through knowledge-sharing, peer learning, and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
As the participants left Bangkok, laptops full of ideas and action plans, they carried with them more than just technical knowledge. They carried a shared conviction that resilience begins with inclusion — and inclusion begins with listening.
Listening to all voices
Inclusive urban resilience is not just about infrastructure, policies, or data. It is about people — ensuring that every voice, especially those too often unheard, shapes the plans that protect us all. It also requires sustained investment and political commitment. Building on the recent global call to dedicate 15 per cent of development projects to the 15 per cent of the world’s population living with disabilities, inclusive disaster risk reduction must be backed by resources that match ambition.
Inclusion further depends on practical enablers — including access to assistive technology, accessible early warning systems, and communication tools that allow persons with disabilities to participate fully in preparedness and response efforts. Without these, participation remains limited; with them, leadership becomes possible.
As one participant put it, “This training was not only about learning a tool. It was about reaffirming that when persons with disabilities lead, communities become stronger.”
Inclusive urban resilience starts with listening to all voices — and ensuring they have the means and support to be heard.
