Child-led disaster risk reduction: a practical guide

This guide, and the examples within it, show the varied, productive and leading roles children can play in disaster risk reduction (DRR). The guide states that it is crucial that as the most vulnerable section of society, children are empowered and educated to be able to prepare themselves and their communities to cope with potential disasters.

Within this guide are some practical tools and methods for implementing a child-led programme. According to the guide the question to ask is not if children should be involved but rather how they should be involved. This practical guide is aimed at practitioners working with children to provide them with examples and ideas to help them enable children to lead the process of disaster risk reduction.

The guide recommends the following steps to be taken by governments and the international community:

• make child protection an integral part of every humanitarian response: incorporate child protection programming into the delivery of all services including food, shelter, health and water and sanitation
  recognise education as an important means of protection
  
• ensure that all nation states recognise children are central to the security agenda and should play a central role in DRR
  
• provide adequate resources to assist local communities to integrate children as social actors in all their preparedness and response activities
  
• advocate for communities and local authorities to support children in taking their place as active citizens who contribute significantly to community wellbeing and self-protection in the face of potential and actual disasters
  
• establish child-led community based disaster risk reduction programs globally.