Women and girls must be part of the planning and implementation of policies dealing with disaster risk reduction, according to the head of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, the Executive Director of UNFPA was speaking in Sendai, Japan, where he is attending the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

He said countries must understand that women are not just victims but are also change agents who must work together with men to respond to disasters in a more holistic way.

Nan Zheng spoke with Dr Osotimehin and first asked him what key messages he brought to the conference on behalf of UNFPA.

Duration: 4’40”