The Asia-Pacific region is home to ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ญ๐ฑโ๐ฎ๐ฐ, accounting for ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐ฌ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ’๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ต. We are a massive demographic force, yet we navigate daily realities in one of the most disaster-prone regions on the planet.
The data reveals a harsh structural reality, as over ๐ต๐ต% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐ฎ-๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ฎ-๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ, recording the ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฎ.๐ญ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
But as advocates, we know that numbers only tell half the story. Our communities are not only facing ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ-๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, but also ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ท๐๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. ๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ navigating deep, compounding disparities, as disasters disproportionately impact LGBTQIA+ youth, Indigenous Peoples, women, children, and other marginalized communities who already face barriers to protection.
We refuse to let queer youth and marginalized sectors be viewed merely as vulnerable casualties. ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ.
