World Vision East Asia’s first child-led research on climate action and disaster mitigation reveals that underpinned by the low to moderate levels of disaster preparedness in vulnerable communities, there is a pressing need to strengthen climate education (formal and informal) and disaster mitigation through school programmes and social media channels.

This Child-Led Study on the Lived Experiences and Perspectives of Children in East Asia is the result of the dedication and hard work of children aged 12-18 years old who are currently engaged with World Vision East Asia through the Young Minds CAMP - a regional leadership development academy.

More than 8 million vulnerable children and families across East Asia were positively impacted by our programmes in 2022. Additionally, through our engagement with governments and advocacy networks, we contributed to 142 policy changes, creating a more positive enabling environment for 44 million vulnerable children to access their rights, harness opportunities, and achieve their potential. In response to the growing and complex challenges within East Asia, we are deepening our commitment to serve the most vulnerable girls and boys through a greater focus on building community resilience to climate change, addressing the impacts of migration and displacement on children, and working with partners to support policy and systems-level change.

This Child-Led Study on the Lived Experiences and Perspectives of Children in East Asia is the result of the dedication and hard work of children aged 12-18 years old who are currently engaged with World Vision East Asia through the Young Minds CAMP - a regional leadership development academy.

This report, “Advocates for Change: Asia Pacific Children and Youth’s Voices & Perspectives on Climate Action and Disaster Risk Reduction”, is the result of the collaboration between partners from different development organizations. This project commenced in May 2024 and culminated in the launch of the report in October 2024 by the Asia Pacific Coalition for School Safety (APCSS).

The East Asia region is home to an estimated 155.2 million people living in extreme poverty. The challenges faced by families in meeting their basic needs and securing their livelihoods are exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, conflict, and rising costs of living.

Disasters pose a substantial and growing threat to children and youth's well-being, and climate change is a rising threat to the environment and livelihood, including the survival and well-being of future generations. However, children and youth continue to be on the frontlines in combating climate change and building resilience in their communities. There have been consultative and robust research on child-centred risk reduction and school safety developed globally and in Asia-Pacific. Drawing from the findings, we highlight young people’s voices and perspectives in urging governments, DRR partners, and practitioners to undertake the following actions in line with the underlying goals of the 10th APMCDRR.

This policy brief provides a call to action for development partners of Laos and Thailand, the primary destination of choice for Lao migrants, to address key drivers of distress migration in communities of origin and to make migration safer, more humane and more just for Lao parents and children alike, providing more support for those who stay behind and those who go, empowering children to help shape a better future for themselves.