Regional Capacity Development Training (Tashkent, May 2009)
Regional Capacity Development Training on Disaster Risk Reduction in Education Thirty participants from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan took part in a four day training to increase their knowledge and skills in disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction at schools. ‘Equipping schools, teachers and children with good disaster risk reduction knowledge and skills will help build a safer world. Over five thousand one hundred teachers in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan will directly benefit from today’s training, meaning many young lives will be saved’ said Mahboob Shareef, UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan The training was organized under UNICEF’s sub-regional project “Supporting Disaster Risk Reduction amongst vulnerable communities in Central Asia”, (DIPECHO) which is supported by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office. In 2005, world leaders gathered in Hyogo, Japan and endorsed an Action Plan for addressing disaster risks and vulnerabilities. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are signatories to the Action Plan, commonly known as the Hyogo Framework for Action or HFA. This training specifically aimed to contribute to HFA Priority 3 (Use knowledge and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels) through introducing practical approaches and techniques in reducing disaster threats into the educational system. The training was facilitated by two experienced international experts working for UNICEF. Participants included trainers from the national education system, particularly teacher training institutions and government officials from the Ministries of Education and of Emergency Situations from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Central Asia is particularly prone to emergencies caused by natural hazards which put human lives and health at risk. They also impact on economic growth and development. Devastation from disasters can be significantly cut down through solid disaster risk reduction initiatives. The concept of disaster risk reduction implies a culture of prevention and mitigation. Networking and cross border cooperation is a key theme. Materials introduced in the workshop contributed to the mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction approaches in the national education sector. For more information please contact: Matthew Taylor, UNICEF Uzbekistan Communications Specialist Hurshnid Sattarov, UNICEF Uzbekistan Disaster risk and reduction programme officer
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