World Vision leads inclusion of children and youth agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction
Bangkok, Thailand - Children and Youth Forum on DRR
World Vision led the Children and Youth Forum on 24 June as a special event at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR). More than 1,000 children and youth showcased the calls of children as a result of their respective national forums between April-May.
Due to the security situation in Thailand, the child representatives filmed their recommendations that were viewed during the theater presentation of youth. A pre-conference workshop prepared the youth for their presentations.
Government officials, NGOs, donors, and other stakeholders attended the conference. Officials from Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, and Pakistan responded to the calls of the children and youth.
The joint statement calls for the following:
- Support and strengthen meaningful participation of children and youth in Disaster Risk Reduction and enable access to information
- Ensure equity and increase access of children and youth and risk-prone households to quality basic social services
- Build safe community infrastructures and ensure relief and reconstruction help to reduce future risks
- Make schools and ensure learning continuity
- Children and youth protection must be a priority at all times and for all children regardless of backgrounds
- Promote environmental protection and management to reduce future disaster and climate change risk
- Promote good governance on Disaster Risk Reduction
Commitments of the Children, Youth, and Child-centered Organizations
To formalize the engagement of major participant groups in the AMCDRR process and in the implementation and monitoring, voluntary commitments were submitted to the UNISDR (UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction).
The finalization of the group’s Statement of Voluntary Commitment is:
- Meaningful participation of children and youth in Disaster Risk Reduction and policy development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation Processes
- Child and youth-centered risk assessment to inform programs and policy decisions
- Safe Schools guided by the Comprehensive School Safety Framework
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Urban Disaster Risk Reduction
- Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in development and resilience programming
The implementation of these commitments will be reported at the next AMCDRR in 2016, as well as in the regular monitoring mechanisms.
The ongoing work of World Vision contributes to the achievement of these commitments. The call for all member organizations is to deepen and broaden these areas of work, with clear contribution to the well-being of children in the region.
By: Ronilda Co, East Asia Region, Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist