Children and Disaster Risk Reduction: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

This report from Children in a Changing Climate (CCC) highlights some of the disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities centred on or led by children in different communities across the world. These are documented along a continuum from expanding knowledge, to enhancing voice, to taking action. The report finds that, to date, effort and success have focused more on the earlier part of this continuum and recommends that the balance of effort shift to supporting children engaged in taking action.

The report finds that "although much work has been done with local communities, and some with local and regional governments, as one moves up to national and international levels there is less activity. In particular, although there has been growing engagement of youth in national and international arenas, under-18s ...have been less engaged. To achieve influential and transformative change, more work at this level is required. If more DRR is focused on Action, the report also suggests that greater engagement with international processes and private sector interests could yield benefits....The report also suggests that as the cost-effectiveness of DRR activities is well understood, it could be helpful for CCC to emphasise the additional economic benefits from delivering DRR with children, where the costs may well be lower and the benefits stream higher....Importantly for DRR practitioners, this will require a shift in the way such interventions are assessed. More evidence is needed on the outcomes of DRR projects - for example, confirming anticipated improvements in child survival, educational attainment, health and well-being."

The document includes examples such as the following:

Expanding Knowledge:

• International organisations worked with children in flood-affected communities in Mozambique. "A school magazine, community brochures, radio programmes, theatre workshops and a ‘River Game’ provided information to children and adults on what they should do in the face of floods, drought, cyclones, and forest fires....The River Game... taught key concepts around coping with floods in a way that was interactive and recreational. The brochures were printed in four local languages making them accessible. Field testing materials in advance helped ensure acceptance by communities and children. The use of local radio and theatre prompted community discussions on DRR, with children and adults engaged in debate around causes and possible means of prevention."

Promoting Voice:

• The edu4hazards.org, created at the University of Northumbria, United Kingdom, with 9-14 year olds, uses interactive navigation in the form of labels on a suitcase that direct the visitor to different types of hazards children may experience. "Videos on the web site - and on the associated YouTube channel - show what to do in an emergency, in a variety of languages. Children have submitted videos in French, English Turkish, Urdu, Russian, Punjabi and Mandarin Chinese, as well as photos of their emergency ‘Go Bags’."
• "Plan International supported the participation of child advocates from developing countries at international policy events on DRR and climate change: the 2009 Global Platform meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva [Switzerland], and the 2007 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) meeting in Bali [Indonesia].” This experience yielded several lessons: 1) Direct input in adult discussion arenas is an important way to secure and generate dialogue between children and adults at the global level; 2) Participation must be balanced with protection; 3) Ensuring transparency in children’s interaction and following international standards on children’s rights helps preclude accusations of ‘tokenism’ and ‘manipulation’ of children in policy-making; and 4) Creating dialogues: International institutions, governments and civil society “must establish and support lasting, child-friendly dialogues on disasters and climate change between children’s groups and adult actors. To engage effectively, children must have access to relevant information in forms they can easily understand and absorb."

Taking Action

• Because the Scouts Musulmans Algériens (SMA) had developed a disaster preparedness plan, they were equipped to respond to the October 2008 flooding around Ghardaia, Algeria. One thousand scouts volunteered, setting up an operational headquarters, to co-ordinate with governmental and non-governmental partners and to monitor the crisis, as well as distribute supplies, aid in clean-up, and support affected flood victims.
  
• Rural disaster teams and school disaster teams were formed in five Kyrgyz villages to support the development of community awareness and preparedness measures. The teams drew disaster risk maps of the villages, planned escape routes, and prepared contingency plans. They also facilitated structural mitigation work including strengthening riverbanks, reconstructing reservoirs, and building dykes.
  
• Making a short film allowed children in Nepal to explore how the changing climate is impacting them and their families, how they are coping, and what they need in order to adapt to a changing climate. "They presented their issues through screenings to government officials, who in turn agreed to help them in building a bridge to improve the year-round access to their school. Outside the community, the video was screened to those in government to advocate for child-sensitive approaches to analysis and implementation of adaptation plans. This targeted those responsible for preparing the Nepal National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA), which highlights the country’s urgent and immediate climate change adaptation needs."

The document concludes that children can positive contributions to DRR:

1. "As analysers of risk and risk reduction activities;
   
2. As designers and implementers of DRR interventions at community level;
   
3. As communicators of risks and risk management options (especially communications to parents, adults or those outside the community);
4. As mobilisers of resources and action for community based resilience;
   
5. As constructors of social networks and capital."

It encourages use of the creative and performing arts, photography and video, internet resources, schools, peer support, and community-based organisations. "This report suggests that, if child-led DRR were to be scaled up, greater emphasis should be given to supporting action that delivers real influence over policy and practice, nationally and internationally."