Barbados will join other nations around the world on Thursday, October 13, to observe International Day for Disaster Reduction.
This year’s theme is Making Children and Young people Partners for Disaster Risk Reduction and a number of events have been planned to highlight the importance of this day.
On Thursday, October 13, the Department of Emergency Management will make simultaneous presentations of hazard mitigation materials to students of the Lester Vaughan School, in St. Thomas and the West Terrace Primary School, in St. James, at 9:00 a.m.
International Day for Disaster Reduction is designed to raise awareness about disaster risk reduction and actions being undertaken by communities globally, which are aimed at addressing their individual risk, through the implementation of various mitigation strategies. The overall aim is to encourage citizens and governments to build risk reduction into development planning, to ensure disaster resilient communities and nations.
During the Third Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held earlier this year in Geneva, a new five-point Children’s Charter was launched. It is based on feedback from 600 children in 21 countries, who identified education, child protection and access to basic information as the main needs to reduce the devastating impact of disasters and climate change upon families and communities.