Disaster risk reduction
A disaster becomes a catastrophe only if we are not prepared
- Hrvatski
- English
Challenge
Climate change is becoming more frequent and is having an increasing impact on the life of each and every one of us, especially children. Global experience tells us that children account for 50 to 60 percent of those affected by catastrophes. In the flooding in Croatia in 2014, one in five persons was a child. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have inalienable rights in all circumstances, including crisis situations, where it is precisely children who are the most vulnerable group.
Disasters become catastrophes only when we are not prepared for them. Any disaster tests the efficiency of the system to protect the rights of children. The ability of children to cope with natural disasters also depends on whether before the disaster they were able to realise their right to education and information essential for protection in such situations.
Experience gained in helping the flood-affected population helped us build an even more efficient platform for mitigating the risk of catastrophe to secure efficient protection for the most vulnerable groups—children.
Solution
Preventing the risk of catastrophe that meets the needs of mothers and children is a recent field of cooperation between UNICEF and the Government of the Republic of Croatia. The aim of the cooperation is to strengthen all participants who provide support to mothers and children, so that they learn how to respond even better to the needs of these two most vulnerable groups.
Through the procurement of equipment and investments in training programmes, UNICEF supported the National Protection and Rescue Directorate and the Croatian Red Cross to make them even better prepared to respond to the needs of mothers and children. These two leading institutions that provide support to the population in crisis situations now have at their disposal additional air humidifiers/dehumidifiers, a diesel generator, sanitation facility containers adjusted for children and people with disability, mobile drinking water containers, and lighting units to light up large spaces. The value of the equipment and training is in excess of HRK 1 million, while the aim is to raise the level of preparedness to provide a high-quality response to the needs of children in the event of a humanitarian crisis as a result of disasters such as floods or earthquakes.
In cooperation with the National Protection and Rescue Directorate, UNICEF issued an educational board game, “Riskland”, for primary school children. The objective is to inform and explain to children in an interesting way what they, as part of the community, can do to be safer in the event of earthquakes, flooding and other disasters, and to encourage discussion on how to mitigate the risk of catastrophe in schools.
