In the Eastern Kazakhstan, a UNICEF workshop took place in the framework of the new initiative on disaster risk reductionUST- KAMENOGORSK,
KAZAKHSTAN, 10 September 2012 - From 3 to 7 September 2012 in Ust–Kamenogorsk a “OneMinutesJr”
video workshop on disaster risk reduction took place for students of the pilot
schools of Eastern Kazakhstan region. 16 school children, who got training on the
UNICEF program on disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the framework of the UNICEF
project 2011, were taking part in it. The aim of the workshop is creating and shooting
one-minute video-films about disaster risk reduction project activities in
Kazakhstan, advancement of children and youth participation in decision-making
concerning their life, stimulating expression of the kids’ opinion on nature
disasters in the locality in which they live, and about activities to mitigate
those risks. For the period of the five-day workshop which is
carried out by the UNICEF international experts from Germany and Netherlands,
the participants will consolidate and upgrade their knowledge and skills in the
area of disaster risk reduction by way of communication, of experience exchange
with their peers and making of their own video films. “At the seminar we study from the masters of their
arts how to make up and shoot our own one-minute
video-films. I consider the theme of
disaster risk reduction a cognitive one. I want to shoot a film about
the case when in 2008 in the city of Semey where I live, because of the extreme
heat there was a forest on fire, and that caused the fumigation all around the
city, and the inhabitants were in the risk zone. I want to share my past fears
and my current knowledge about the fact that fire plots should be strewn with
sand and covered with the blankets, to urgently call up the firemen and doctors
for giving the assistance who had gotten the scorches. I’ll show how the fire
was stopped, and the people were evacuated by the mobile fire brigade to safe
places”, - said Temerlan Bekmuhamedov, the student of the 10 А grade, school #11 of the city
of Semey. It is planned that the best videos will be shown at
the various events at the country, regional and international levels, such as
the 5th Asian Inter-ministry conference on disaster risk reduction which will
take place in October in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October 2012, at the city of
Almaty on the occasion of the celebration of the International day of disaster
risk reduction, at the conference on DDR in Geneva in May of 2013. And more
than that, with the purpose of the promotion of this initiative the video-films
will be placed on the on-line UNICEF platforms and web-sites of its partners. The DIPECHO
VII project “Supporting disaster risk reduction amongst institutions and vulnerable communities in
Kazakhstan” is funded by the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil
Protection of the European Commission (ECHO). Besides the schools and
kindergartens of Eastern Kazakhstan, it will be continued in the new pilot
institutions of the city of Almaty, Almaty and South Kazakhstan regions which
due to their natural and technogenic peculiarities are subject to the
accidental disasters such as earthquakes, floods, mudflows, landslides,
avalanches, extreme temperatures and fires.
One of
the main directions of the project work is advancement of the potential of
schools and kindergartens in providing the readiness to disasters, and also
rising of schools’ sustainability to the potential risks. At the national level the main task is to integrate disaster
risk reduction blocks into the corresponding school curriculum and inclusion of
the DRR components into the national and local programs of development and
budgets of the regions of Kazakhstan. UNICEF will continue cooperation with the
Ministries of Education and Science and Emergency of the Republic of
Kazakhstan, UNDP and Red Crescent Society in Kazakhstan in this area.
“We are grateful to UNICEF for touching upon serious challenges of our region; I’m happy that our children were active participants of the workshop and shown our risks with their own eyes”, - told Zhanar Islyamova, representing Education Department of the Eastern Kazakhstan Akimat at the ceremony of the workshop’s closure, where 18 children’s videos have been presented. “We are proud to be a pilot school in DIPECHO disaster risk reduction project, we learnt many things during this week, such work is important for future generations; we plan to show these videos to all students of our and other schools and will continue teaching children on DRR», - noted Oralkhan Tleukhanov, director of the pilot school. “Teaching children on preparedness and actions during
disasters is one of the main tasks of the Emergency system, we increase the
capacity every day, however, I have never seen that children can create such
video films on their own; this method could be applied in our practice on strengthening
the skills on DRR”, - expressed her view Marina Liskova, the Chief specialist
of Ust-Kamenogorsk city Emergency Department. The events carrying out by the
UNICEF in Eastern Kazakhstan region are realized in the framework of the five-year
UN Joint Program and the Plan of action of the Akimat of Eastern Kazakhstan and
UNICEF for 2012. About ECHO About UNICEF For additional
information please refer to: Anna Stativkina
OneMinutesJr on DRR in 2012 |
