On July 25, 2024, Asst.Prof. Dr. Duanghathai Buranajaroenkij represented Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation at a meeting with the NEAT Working Group on Promoting Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) in Disaster Response in Tokyo, Japan. The Network of East Asian Think-tanks (NEAT) is a Track 2 international organization of ASEAN+3 countries. In July 2025, fifteen experts from ASEAN+3 (APT) countries and the sponsoring organization, the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR), shared their expertise on disaster management from a gender perspective and its integration into the WPS agenda. The NEAT Working Group produced three key recommendations as an outcome of the meeting, intended for engagement with the APT summit in August 2024: 1) Increase women’s participation in politics, economy, and society for inclusive decision-making, particularly in disaster management. 2) Establish educational programs to eliminate gender biases. 3) Enhance research and share best practices to improve disaster response and WPS initiatives.
