DRR in Education: An imperative for Education Policymakers
UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, in collaboration with UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, has prepared a brochure and poster to provide guidance for why and how Ministries of Education should mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) into all aspects of the education sector.
The Asia-Pacific is the world’s most disaster-prone region, subject to frequent and severe devastation caused by floods, cyclones, earthquakes, and landslides, among others calamities. The region accounts for approximately a third of the world’s disasters, about half of its disaster-related economic damage, and almost 90% of the world’s disaster victims . In a region that is also the world’s most populous, over 62 million people were exposed to flooding in 2010, and over 61 million people were exposed to tropical cyclones between 2000-2009.
Disasters affect and impact most heavily on those individuals and communities that lack the resilience to cope and respond to hazards. The Asia-Pacific region has made strides to reduce people’s vulnerabilities to hazards: improving early warning mechanisms, creating disaster preparedness plans, and strengthening disaster response means. However, evidence indicates that what people know is more important than what they have when it comes to avoiding and limiting harmful consequences of hazards. Impacts of disasters are often most severe where communities lack knowledge and information about disasters and about how to reduce their risk and vulnerabilities.
Education plays an extremely important role in providing people with the knowledge and skills needed to build a culture of safety and resilience. It is identified as one of the top 5 priorities for action of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA): “Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels.” The HFA points to the need to incorporate disaster prevention and preparedness throughout formal curricula; teach disaster prevention and preparedness through co-curricular and informal means; engage teachers and students in adapting, developing and testing high quality interactive materials and strategies, and in creating safe learning environments.
DRR in education is also part of efforts to develop child-friendly education systems and schools. Destroyed and damaged education facilities force children out of their schools; the loss of household assets and livelihoods increase the likelihood of children dropping out and can lead to poor educational achievement. For example, areas in Nepal that experienced the most extensive disasters also saw reduced primary enrolment rates, and similar areas in Viet Nam saw a drop in the total number of children in primary education.
Through DRR in education, students can turn from being the most at risk in the face of disasters to become champions of local efforts in building safe and resilient communities. As part of education for sustainable development (ESD), strengthening DRR education can also build learners’ and communities’ resilience to negative impacts of climate change, thereby contributing to climate change adaptation.
Although the Asia-Pacific region has continued to contribute resources to strengthening DRR in education, investment has been low relative to needs, and ongoing disasters and their detrimental impacts are constant reminders of the need to improve and devote further resources to this area. There is a need to strengthen the comprehensiveness and endurance of DRR integration into education. One necessary avenue for achieving such sustainability is mainstreaming DRR in education into the ongoing work of education Ministries, including policy development, curriculum and planning.
