* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Today is International Day for Disaster Reduction, an opportunity to raise awareness of what we can all do to reduce our risk to disasters. With a number of major disasters hitting the headlines – including the drought and food crisis in the Horn of Africa and floods across Asia – the message is more relevant than ever.
This year’s day is focusing on the role children and young people can play in reducing the threat of disasters under the theme “Step Up For Disaster Risk Reduction.” Evidence shows that children living in poverty are disproportionately affected by disasters. But ActionAid’s experience indicates that, given the opportunity, they can make significant and meaningful contributions to disaster reduction efforts.
ActionAid’s approach to disaster risk reduction works on this premise. Our groundbreaking Disaster Risk Reduction through Schools (DRRS) project used schools as central hubs to educate children, parents and the wider community on how to prepare for and cope with the impacts of disasters. By placing children at the centre, the project recognised the potential of young people to act as powerful agents of change – and highlighted the need for disaster risk reduction initiatives to listen and respond to their needs.
“A focus on children can help create a sense of urgency around the need to analyse and address hazards and risks, as well as provide a long-term perspective as children grow up,” says John Abuya, ActionAid’s expert on Disaster Risk Reduction.
“Children also act as excellent messengers of a culture of prevention – spreading the word amongst parents and the wider community about the need to prepare for disasters. All they need to understand is why disasters happen, when they will happen, what they can do when it happens, and how to live in a way that makes disasters less likely to happen.”
Lamia Akter would certainly agree. Aged 7, she saved her family and other community members when Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh in 2007.
“Sidr came and we went to many homes. When I first told my parents they did not want to come [to the cyclone shelter]. I was crying, I was very afraid. I have a sister who cannot swim. Then I said to my mum and dad ‘If you don’t come, then let me go. Then my parents said ‘Ok since the girl is insisting and she is crying, let’s go.’”
Lamia’s knowledge of what to do in the event of a disaster came from trainings she’d received at school.
“After the training, I know what I have to do. We have cattle, mothers and fathers, and we have to take them to the cyclone shelter. We can save our lives. We can save the lives of our brothers and sisters and our mothers and fathers.”
The responsibility for involving children and young people in disaster preparedness lies with us all. 168 countries are committed to reducing the impact of disasters on their citizens agreed in the Hyogo Framework for Action, signed at the Kobe World Conference for Disaster Reduction in 2005.
The important step now is for governments, civil society and I/NGOs alike to ensure that young people are actively involved in discussions around disaster reduction, and have the space and opportunity to contribute their ideas.
For more information on ActionAid’s disaster reduction work see http://www.actionaid.org/what-we-do/emergencies-conflict/reducing-risk
