Asia Pacific Gender-based Violence in Emergencies Working Group

Asia and the Pacific — home to 60% of the world’s population — is the region most vulnerable to natural disasters and emergencies, and is affected by 21 active armed conflicts. In 2024, nearly 26.6 million people were displaced by conflict, violence, and disasters. The region accounts for more than three-quarters of all people affected by disasters globally, as climate change drives increasingly severe events such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, and droughts — overwhelming national response capacities and compounding humanitarian crises (OCHA, 2025).

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a critical concern. Globally, one in three women — around 736 million — experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, a figure that has remained largely unchanged for more than a decade (WHO, 2021b). Most of this violence is occurring within marriages or intimate relationships. In Asia and the Pacific, 26% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence, including intimate partner violence, during their lifetime, making it one of the most dangerous regions for women and girls (UNFPA, 2025). Sub-regional disparities are striking: intimate partner violence affects 19% of women in East Asia, 21% in South-East Asia, 35% in South Asia, and 49% in the Pacific. Violence often begins early, with one in four adolescent girls (aged 15–19) who have ever partnered reporting physical or sexual intimate partner violence (WHO, 2021a).

During the 2023 Humanitarian Programme Cycle, 18.95 million people were identified as in need across Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. By 2024, this figure rose to 23 million. Looking ahead to 2025, humanitarian planning will cover Afghanistan and Myanmar through Humanitarian Needs and Response Plans (HNRPs), while Cox’s Bazar will be addressed under the Bangladesh Rohingya Joint Response Plan (JRP). Current estimates project that 23 million people will remain in need in 2025, though this figure reflects only Afghanistan and Myanmar (OCHA, 2024).

Despite this scale of need, the region consistently receives a declining share of global humanitarian financing — averaging only 11% of the global total between 2020 and 2024, with some years as low as 8% (OCHA, 2023; OCHA, 2025). This leaves core protection and GBV services chronically underfunded.

Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs) and Women-Led Organizations (WLOs) are central to delivering community-driven, sustained, and accessible GBV services. Supporting their leadership and engagement, including through dedicated funding, remains a regional priority (UN Women, 2021).

Sources

• GBViE WG. (2021). Asia-Pacific Regional GBV in Emergencies Working Group annual report.
• OCHA. (2023). Global Humanitarian Overview 2023. https://gho.unocha.org
• OCHA. (2024). Global Humanitarian Overview 2024. https://gho.unocha.org
• OCHA. (2025). Regional focus: Asia and the Pacific. ReliefWeb
• UNFPA. (2025). Violence against women: Regional snapshot 2024 (kNOwVAWdata). Link
• UN Women. (2021). Closing the funding gap for women-focused organizations responding to COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific. Link
• WHO. (2021a). Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2018: global, regional and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and global and regional prevalence estimates for non-partner sexual violence against women. Geneva: World Health Organization. Link
• WHO. (2021b, March 9). Devastatingly pervasive: 1 in 3 women globally experience violence. News release

The Asia-Pacific GBV in Emergencies Working Group (GBViE WG) brings together regional technical experts on GBViE from UN agencies, NGOs, and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement to strengthen GBV prevention, risk mitigation, and response in humanitarian settings.

Co-chaired by UNFPA and the GBV Area of Responsibility (AoR), the Working Group collaborates to enhance coordination, build capacity, and share good practices across the region. The group organizes quarterly meetings and monthly webinars, offers technical support, and provides a platform for members to exchange experiences and good practices.

For additional information, please contact:
Irene Quizon — quizon@unfpa.org (GBV AoR Asia Pacific REGA)
Sujata Tuladhar — stuladhar@unfpa.org (UNFPA APRO GBV Technical Advisor)
Jay Tseng — tseng@unfpa.org (GBV AoR Asia Pacific REGA IMO)

• GBV AoR Strategy 2021-2025
• GBV AoR Capacity Strengthening Strategy 2023-2028
• Handbook for Coordinating GBV in Emergencies - GBV AoR 2019
• Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming, GBV AoR 2019
• Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action - IASC 2015
• Standard Operating Procedures for GBV Interventions in Humanitarian Settings GBV SOPs Resource Package - GBV AoR and UNHCR 2023

• Learning Brief for Climate Actors: Integrating Attention to Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Climate Action in Asia and the Pacific (2025)

• Key Considerations at the Intersection of Disasters, Climate Change and Gender-based Violence in the Asia-Pacific Region - GBV AoR Helpdesk 2025

• Global GBV AoR website link

• GBV AoR YouTube link

  
  

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