Governments must take action to help children to survive disasters
On UN disaster reduction day, Wednesday, 11 October, ActionAid is launching a blueprint for governments that sets out how to keep children safe in schools and teach them how to survive during disasters. The launch coincides with Kofi Annan's message urging action.
"Children are especially vulnerable to the threats posed by natural hazards. At the same time they can be powerful agents of change," says Annan. "It is essential therefore to make disaster risk education a component of national school criteria."
In the week that the people of Pakistan are mourning the lives of 17,000 children lost a year ago in the earthquake, Annan's message has particular resonance.
"Had some of the children caught up in the emergency known what to do if disaster struck, many young lives could have been saved. It is a scandal that so many children died needlessly as their classrooms crumbled around them when the quake struck" said Yasmin Mcdonnell, Emergency Policy Analyst at ActionAid.
ActionAid's new briefing, "Lessons for Life, Building a Culture of Safety and Resilience to Disasters through Schools" is founded on years of experience in disaster preparedness on the ground. The briefing provides recommendations for national governments that will aide the creation of disaster reduction policy. This will help governments meet commitments made in the Hyogo Framework for Action—a global agreement that aims to reduce the impact of emergencies.
The briefing paper shows governments how to integrate teaching on local risks and hazards into the curriculum and how to increase the physical safety and resilience in local school buildings.
The quakes in India and Pakistan, the Asian Tsunami, earthquakes in Indonesia, mudslides in the Philippines and floods in Ethiopia showed that children remain the most vulnerable in emergencies. In many instances, schools act as a refuge during a disaster and a focal point for relief distribution.
Governments must act now to reduce the devastating impact of disasters on their citizens, especially their children. Strengthening school buildings and educating students about how to prepare for disasters will save lives.
ActionAid's briefing is a practical way forward for national governments to play their part in the global commitment to reducing the impact of disasters.
The report, "Lessons for Life, Building a Culture of Safety and Resilience to Disasters through Schools" is available at http://www.actionaid.org/wps/content/documents/Lessons%20for%20life%20FINAL%20091006_9102006_173147.pdf
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
