FORUM: “Empowering the next generation for a resilient future.” International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2024. Increasing disasters, many of them driven and exacerbated by climate change, threaten the well-being of children and youth. According to UNICEF, approximately one billion children worldwide are at extremely high risk due to climate impacts, including climate-related disasters. In 2022, the number of children affected by flooding in Chad, Gambia, Pakistan and Bangladesh was the highest in over 30 years . Beyond the risk of death and injury, children in the aftermath of a disaster face cascading impacts such as disruptions in schooling, nutrition, and healthcare and protection issues. To protect children from disasters, countries must consider their vulnerabilities and needs when designing national and local disaster risk reduction strategies. It is equally important that children and youth be empowered and provided “the space and modalities to contribute to disaster risk reduction,” as called for in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. This also aligns with the calls to action of the Political Declaration of the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework, which called for “the full, equal, meaningful and inclusive participation” of youth and the promotion of "a culture of disaster prevention.” Empowering children, especially through education, can enable them to protect themselves and to become agents of change in their families and communities by sharing what they learned. This is particularly relevant in the context of the global push to expand early warning systems under the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All initiative. To achieve the goal of the Sendai Framework of reducing global disaster risks and losses, the theme of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) 2024, which falls on 13 October, will highlight the role of education in protecting and empowering youth for a disaster-free future. The theme is aligned with the Summit of the Future, planned for September 2024, where ‘youth and future generations’ will be one of its five priorities. The observance of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2024 calls on countries to harness the education sector to reduce the disaster risks of school-aged children, especially by investing in two key areas: 1. Protect children and youth through safe schools and education facilities: children are entitled to be safe in their schools and this starts with ensuring schools are disaster-resilient and are part of disaster early warning systems. 2. Empower children and youth to be safe through age-appropriate education to understand and act on the risks they face. This includes building their preparedness to take early action in response to early warnings. Empowered children become agents of change for more resilient communities. 3. Endorse and implement the Comprehensive School Safety Framework 2022-2030 , developed by the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES), which is chaired by UNESCO and UNICEF. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #ResilienceForAll, #DRRday, #13October, #SendaiFramework, #DisasterRiskReduction, #AreYouReady24, #SafeChildrenSafeSchools.
EVENTS: On October 13th, a webinar will be held to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2024. Partners are encouraged to publish and share success stories around the calls to action. Examples include: • Publicizing national endorsements of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework. • The retrofitting or construction of schools to be resilient to disasters. • Insertion of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in school curricula. • School-organized disaster evacuation drills. • Creation of engaging learning materials and activities, such as cartoons, comics, competitions, songs or films, aimed at educating children about disaster risks. • Teacher-led demonstrations of the UNDRR-created ‘Stop Disasters’ video game.Get the list of Upcoming events!
Activities for kids: See the latest materials including children's books, textbooks, lesson plans, activities, games, and online resources on disaster prevention and school safety. Explore materials!
Colouring Pages: These colouring pages can be printed and used in pedagogical activities with children to raise awareness on disaster preparedness. Print and color!
Interactive maps: Explore the most Significant Disasters, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Tropical Storms!
PUBLICATION: This guide “Engaging Children and Youth in Disaster Risk Reduction in Resilience Building.” offers specific advice on implementing a feasible, people-centered approach to supporting and engaging children in disaster risk reduction and resilience-building. Read the guide!
The UNDRR has released the results of the 2023 Global Survey on Persons with Disabilities and Disasters, which is the first global look at how persons with disabilities perceive current national and local disaster risk reduction measures since 2013.
STATEMENTS
Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2024, October 13th.
Climate disasters are hurting countries and economies like never before.
Ever-rising greenhouse gas emissions are supercharging extreme weather events across the planet.
I saw first-hand the devastation unleashed by the recent floods in Pakistan.
These increasing calamities cost lives and hundreds of billions of dollars in loss and damage.
Three times more people are displaced by climate disasters than war.
Half of humanity is already in the danger zone.
The world is failing to invest in protecting the lives and livelihoods of those on the front line.
Those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis are paying the highest price.
Entire populations are being blindsided by cascading climate disasters without any means of prior alert.
People need adequate warning to prepare for extreme weather events.
That is why I am calling for universal early warning coverage in the next five years.
Early warning systems – and the ability to act on them – are proven life-savers.
This is shown clearly by a new report today from the World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction.
The report reveals that such services are woefully lacking for those who need them most.
At the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, I will launch an action plan to provide early warning systems for all within five years.
I urge all governments, international financial institutions and civil society to support it.
This new report is yet another reminder that real and concrete action on loss and damage must be global priority.
Delivering on loss and damage at COP27 will be an important litmus test for rebuilding trust between developed and developing countries.
On this International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, I call on all countries to invest in early warning systems and support those who lack capacity.
Extreme weather events will happen.
But they do not need to become deadly disasters.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
For this year's International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, we are calling on countries to do more to protect and empower children and youth through education.
First, we have to ensure that every single school that is built - in our efforts to achieve universal education - every single school that is built has to be built in a manner that it can withstand disasters that are likely to occur in the areas that they are built. And where we already have schools, we have to begin to retrofit them so that they can withstand the hazards that they are exposed to.
The second ask we have is that all children must have access to the best possible information and knowledge on different aspects of disaster risk management.
They should be aware of the hazards that they are exposed to.They should be fully equipped with knowledge to deal with those hazards to keep themselves safe in the face of those hazards and take this message home to their families as well so that they can challenge their parents.
They can challenge their elder ones.To invest in resilience, to be aware of the risks that they are exposed to and to take necessary steps.
The third ask we have is that all countries endorse the Comprehensive School Safety Framework 2022 to 2030, which supports the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.I would like all countries to sign off on that program and make sure that by 2030 we have 100% coverage in terms of school safety across the world if we do that, we will be really acting with a sense of responsibility towards ourselves, towards our society and towards our future generations.
UNDRR head Mr. Kamal Kishore.
LIVESTREAM: GAR Special Report 2024 - The Disaster Forensic Approach.
