Children’s needs a priority after Philippine floods
Photo credit
By Dizery Salim
GENEVA, 27 December 2011 – A week after Tropical Storm Sendong hit the Philippines, aid agencies are focusing attention on an estimated 14,000 children who make up about a third of displaced persons in evacuation centres, including those separated from their families.
Children who are left to cope with disasters on their own face a range of risks, said Anna Lindenfors, Philippine Country Director for Save the Children. That organization is one of several partners working with the UN office for disaster risk reduction, UNISDR, on the “Step Up for Disaster Risk Reduction” campaign that is currently focused on empowering children and youth.
When separated from their parents, children are often frightened, unable to find food and clean water, and are at risk of abuse, she added.
In other instances, children cannot return to school because school buildings are being used as evacuation centres. Tens of thousands of homeless villagers are sheltering in public buildings, including schools, and may remain there for between three to six months, according to the Philippine Office of Civil Defense.
The Children’s Charter, an action plan for disaster risk reduction developed by children – which UNISDR is promoting as part of its youth empowerment campaign – calls for safe and uninterrupted education at all times, as well as special protection for children before, during and after disasters.
“In times of emergency, communities are likely to prioritize needs related to people’s immediate survival and will not have the resources to address the basic need of affected school children and teachers. For this reason, forward planning to preserve a child’s right to education is one of the most valuable actions a government can take, before disasters strike. Education is key to children’s long-term opportunities and must not be interrupted,” said Margareta Wahlström, the UN’s disaster risk reduction chief.
The UN, in its response to Tropical Storm Sendong, has pledged through UNICEF – the United Nations Children’s Fund – to provide as many school-aged children as possible with continued access to safe and secure learning environments in the hardest-hit cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
In total, the UN's newly revised Humanitarian Action Plan for the flood-affected Mindanao calls for $28.5 million to conduct relief and rehabilitation efforts for the next three months. Of that amount, $354,000 will be devoted to helping severely affected schoolchildren in specially targeted communities, to establish secure places of learning, and to replace damaged or lost learning material.
Observers say losses caused by Tropical Storm Sendong are particularly severe because it swept across towns and villages not normally hit by big storms. Three rivers – the Cagayan, Agus and Mandulog Rivers – rose rapidly in the early hours of 17 December, reaching over 3 meters in less than an hour in some areas, drowning some people in their sleep while others were forced to climb atop their homes for safety.
After the storm, local communities and authorities reacted quickly to launch search and rescue operations and to provide immediate relief assistance.
The Danish Government, one of several nations that has contributed funds to support the Philippine Government’s emergency relief activities, has said that its aid will be followed up with awareness raising on disaster risks associated with deforestation in watersheds. In February, President Aquino banned logging in the region following previous flooding deaths that experts say were caused by deforestation and soil erosion.
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
Childrens Charter
Date:
27 Dec 2011
Sources:
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat - Asia and Pacific (UNISDR AP)
Related Links
View more DRR information for Philippines on PreventionWeb
1 million safe schools & hospitals initiative: make a pledge - save a life
Keywords
Themes:
Education & School Safety, Environment, Governance, Vulnerable Populations
Hazards:
Cyclone, Flood, Land Slide
Countries:
Philippines
Source:- http://www.unisdr.org/archive/24380
Showing posts with label disaster management agency india 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disaster management agency india 2011. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Children’s needs a priority after Philippine floods
Children’s needs a priority after Philippine floods
Photo credit
By Dizery Salim
GENEVA, 27 December 2011 – A week after Tropical Storm Sendong hit the Philippines, aid agencies are focusing attention on an estimated 14,000 children who make up about a third of displaced persons in evacuation centres, including those separated from their families.
Children who are left to cope with disasters on their own face a range of risks, said Anna Lindenfors, Philippine Country Director for Save the Children. That organization is one of several partners working with the UN office for disaster risk reduction, UNISDR, on the “Step Up for Disaster Risk Reduction” campaign that is currently focused on empowering children and youth.
When separated from their parents, children are often frightened, unable to find food and clean water, and are at risk of abuse, she added.
In other instances, children cannot return to school because school buildings are being used as evacuation centres. Tens of thousands of homeless villagers are sheltering in public buildings, including schools, and may remain there for between three to six months, according to the Philippine Office of Civil Defense.
The Children’s Charter, an action plan for disaster risk reduction developed by children – which UNISDR is promoting as part of its youth empowerment campaign – calls for safe and uninterrupted education at all times, as well as special protection for children before, during and after disasters.
“In times of emergency, communities are likely to prioritize needs related to people’s immediate survival and will not have the resources to address the basic need of affected school children and teachers. For this reason, forward planning to preserve a child’s right to education is one of the most valuable actions a government can take, before disasters strike. Education is key to children’s long-term opportunities and must not be interrupted,” said Margareta Wahlström, the UN’s disaster risk reduction chief.
The UN, in its response to Tropical Storm Sendong, has pledged through UNICEF – the United Nations Children’s Fund – to provide as many school-aged children as possible with continued access to safe and secure learning environments in the hardest-hit cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
In total, the UN's newly revised Humanitarian Action Plan for the flood-affected Mindanao calls for $28.5 million to conduct relief and rehabilitation efforts for the next three months. Of that amount, $354,000 will be devoted to helping severely affected schoolchildren in specially targeted communities, to establish secure places of learning, and to replace damaged or lost learning material.
Observers say losses caused by Tropical Storm Sendong are particularly severe because it swept across towns and villages not normally hit by big storms. Three rivers – the Cagayan, Agus and Mandulog Rivers – rose rapidly in the early hours of 17 December, reaching over 3 meters in less than an hour in some areas, drowning some people in their sleep while others were forced to climb atop their homes for safety.
After the storm, local communities and authorities reacted quickly to launch search and rescue operations and to provide immediate relief assistance.
The Danish Government, one of several nations that has contributed funds to support the Philippine Government’s emergency relief activities, has said that its aid will be followed up with awareness raising on disaster risks associated with deforestation in watersheds. In February, President Aquino banned logging in the region following previous flooding deaths that experts say were caused by deforestation and soil erosion.
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
Childrens Charter
Date:
27 Dec 2011
Sources:
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat - Asia and Pacific (UNISDR AP)
Related Links
View more DRR information for Philippines on PreventionWeb
1 million safe schools & hospitals initiative: make a pledge - save a life
Keywords
Themes:
Education & School Safety, Environment, Governance, Vulnerable Populations
Hazards:
Cyclone, Flood, Land Slide
Countries:
Philippines
Source:- http://www.unisdr.org/archive/24380
Photo credit
By Dizery Salim
GENEVA, 27 December 2011 – A week after Tropical Storm Sendong hit the Philippines, aid agencies are focusing attention on an estimated 14,000 children who make up about a third of displaced persons in evacuation centres, including those separated from their families.
Children who are left to cope with disasters on their own face a range of risks, said Anna Lindenfors, Philippine Country Director for Save the Children. That organization is one of several partners working with the UN office for disaster risk reduction, UNISDR, on the “Step Up for Disaster Risk Reduction” campaign that is currently focused on empowering children and youth.
When separated from their parents, children are often frightened, unable to find food and clean water, and are at risk of abuse, she added.
In other instances, children cannot return to school because school buildings are being used as evacuation centres. Tens of thousands of homeless villagers are sheltering in public buildings, including schools, and may remain there for between three to six months, according to the Philippine Office of Civil Defense.
The Children’s Charter, an action plan for disaster risk reduction developed by children – which UNISDR is promoting as part of its youth empowerment campaign – calls for safe and uninterrupted education at all times, as well as special protection for children before, during and after disasters.
“In times of emergency, communities are likely to prioritize needs related to people’s immediate survival and will not have the resources to address the basic need of affected school children and teachers. For this reason, forward planning to preserve a child’s right to education is one of the most valuable actions a government can take, before disasters strike. Education is key to children’s long-term opportunities and must not be interrupted,” said Margareta Wahlström, the UN’s disaster risk reduction chief.
The UN, in its response to Tropical Storm Sendong, has pledged through UNICEF – the United Nations Children’s Fund – to provide as many school-aged children as possible with continued access to safe and secure learning environments in the hardest-hit cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
In total, the UN's newly revised Humanitarian Action Plan for the flood-affected Mindanao calls for $28.5 million to conduct relief and rehabilitation efforts for the next three months. Of that amount, $354,000 will be devoted to helping severely affected schoolchildren in specially targeted communities, to establish secure places of learning, and to replace damaged or lost learning material.
Observers say losses caused by Tropical Storm Sendong are particularly severe because it swept across towns and villages not normally hit by big storms. Three rivers – the Cagayan, Agus and Mandulog Rivers – rose rapidly in the early hours of 17 December, reaching over 3 meters in less than an hour in some areas, drowning some people in their sleep while others were forced to climb atop their homes for safety.
After the storm, local communities and authorities reacted quickly to launch search and rescue operations and to provide immediate relief assistance.
The Danish Government, one of several nations that has contributed funds to support the Philippine Government’s emergency relief activities, has said that its aid will be followed up with awareness raising on disaster risks associated with deforestation in watersheds. In February, President Aquino banned logging in the region following previous flooding deaths that experts say were caused by deforestation and soil erosion.
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
Childrens Charter
Date:
27 Dec 2011
Sources:
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat - Asia and Pacific (UNISDR AP)
Related Links
View more DRR information for Philippines on PreventionWeb
1 million safe schools & hospitals initiative: make a pledge - save a life
Keywords
Themes:
Education & School Safety, Environment, Governance, Vulnerable Populations
Hazards:
Cyclone, Flood, Land Slide
Countries:
Philippines
Source:- http://www.unisdr.org/archive/24380
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Political Will – and Money – Needed for Disaster Management
Political Will – and Money – Needed for Disaster Management
By Joshua Kyalimpa
DURBAN, South Africa, Nov 30, 2011 (IPS) - Managing the impact of increased disasters due to climate change will only be possible if such efforts are led by local communities, say non-governmental organisations working in climate change.
"We cannot use the excuse of money - or the lack of it - not to do anything. Yes, developed countries have to make financial commitments, but what if they don’t?" asks Charles Hopkins of the charity CARE International in Ethiopia, an international humanitarian organisation.
A deal on climate change at Durban might still be a far-fetched dream, but climate change-related disasters are already taking a toll around the globe.
According to a report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), increases in some extreme weather and climate events have already been observed and further increases are projected over the 21st century.
The Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, evaluates the role of climate change in altering characteristics of extreme events. It assesses experience with a wide range of options used by institutions, organizations, and communities to reduce exposure and vulnerability, and improve resilience, to climate extremes.
Speaking at a press conference at United Nations 17th Conference of the Parties in Durban, South Africa, IPCC executive director Dr. Kristie Ebi highlighted that while total economic losses from natural disasters could be high in developed countries; economic losses expressed as a proportion of GDP could be higher in developing countries.
Ebi says the IPCC will soon start meeting policy makers and politicians around the world to urge them take up measures for disaster reduction: "We are committed to outreach events over the coming months with a hope that politicians and policy makers will be encouraged to advance climate change adaptation."
According to the IPCC report, deaths from natural disasters occur much more in developing countries. Information obtained from 1970 to 2008 by the experts’ shows that more than 95 percent of deaths from natural disasters were in developing countries.
Most governments have, however, not put in place policies for disaster risk reduction. Hopkins says governments, especially those in Africa, have to take to protect people and their property.
"People have to be given the right information because information on disaster reduction remains at the top and often the affected people don’t even get it," says Hopkins
Professor Richard Klein, of the Stockholm Environment Institute and a member of the international panel of experts, says people actually don’t have to rely on international agreements.
Read this article in detail at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22918
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