Education top of disaster reduction efforts

AS the world marks the 2024 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, the sad reality of massive destruction of lives and property caused by disasters, particularly climate-related hazards, again stares humanity in the face.

Reducing global disaster risks and losses is the centre of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2024.The theme is the role of education in protecting and empowering youths for a disaster-free future.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction lamented that disasters are growing globally and impacting the well-being of children and youths more than other groups.

It said about 400 million students globally have experienced school closures due to extreme weather since 2022. An average of 18 school days are lost annually in low-income countries due to the climate crisis which negatively impacts education compared to 2.4 days in wealthier countries.
The global body decried that over 1 billion children’s lives have been disrupted by disasters since 2000, with over 80,000 schools damaged or destroyed. As such, the UNDRR urged countries to do more to protect and empower children and youths through risk management education.

It insisted that children and youths deserve to be protected from disasters, especially at school; schools should be made to play a critical role in promoting a culture of disaster prevention and empowering young people to understand and act on the risks they face.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for DRR, Kamal Kishore, advised that schools must be built to withstand disasters that may occur, adding that existing learning facilities should be retrofitted to withstand possible hazards.
He campaigned that youths should be “aware of the hazards they are exposed to. They should be fully equipped with the knowledge to deal with those hazards to keep themselves safe in the face of those hazards and take this message home to their families as well so that they can challenge their parents.”

The UNDRR boss argued that when youths are enlightened about the hazards they face, they can challenge society to invest in resilience and take necessary steps to mitigate against disasters.

Many countries lack infrastructural resistance and emergency management capacity to mitigate and respond to natural disasters. This often leads to huge losses of lives and property.

While Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, are poorly prepared for the debilitating effects of climate change and other disaster risks, many developed countries do not fare better.

For instance, at least 17 people died in the United States as Hurricane Milton hit Florida recently.

The US National Hurricane Center said the storm came with “damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall” while leaving behind mind-boggling devastation and destruction. over 3 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power supply.

Climate disasters do not respect persons and states. According to the World Risk Poll, powered by Gallup, 30 percent of the world’s population witnessed a natural disaster in the past five years. This increased by 3.0 percentage points from 2021 to 2023 and was primarily driven by the increase in flooding.
“Thirty per cent of people globally who experienced a disaster in the past five years received no warning, with rural, less educated, and less financially resilient populations significantly less likely to be warned,” said the poll.

Our World in Data revealed that between 40,000 and 50,000 people have been killed by earthquakes, storms, floods, and droughts annually in the last few decades.

Similarly, Relief International, in 2023, recorded a total of 399 disasters related to natural hazards killing 86,473 people and affecting 93.1 million others amid serious infrastructure damage. The economic losses were put at $202.7billion globally.
According to African Risk Capacity, approximately 1,436 weather-related natural disasters were recorded in 29 African countries between 2000 and 2023.

Many African countries are not adequately prepared to respond to weather-related natural disasters. Only 40 percent of Africa is currently covered by Early Warning Systems, and even those are compromised, per the ARC.

Weather-related disasters have a negative economic impact, and slow growth, poverty eradication, food security, public health, and infrastructure development. The loss from natural disasters includes damage to agriculture, property, infrastructure, and job losses, the ARC decried.

According to the IFC, droughts and floods reduced Africa’s GDP by an average of about 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent respectively between 1990 and 2019 while 29 African countries collectively spent $2.2billion on weather-related disasters.
Over 414,000 people were displaced and 30 were killed by flood in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital in September. An overflowing dam caused the worst flooding in the state in the last 30 years.

UNICEF warned that over 1.5 million children are at risk of waterborne diseases due to severe flooding in Nigeria.

The way out is for countries to build more resilient communities and economies while, according to the UNDRR, preparing youths for a disaster-free future by educating them on the hazards they face and how to mitigate them.

Nigeria must heed the call of the UNDRR to prepare children and the youth for disaster resilience. The Federal Government and all countries are advised to develop “child-centred DRR policies.”

“This means integrating the needs, vulnerabilities, and ideas of children into disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation plans, with resources dedicated to their implementation,” the UNDRR said.

It called on countries to implement a Comprehensive School Safety Framework to protect children, educators, staff, and schools.

Nigeria, which exhibitspoor preparedness and weak resilience for natural and human-induced disasters, should integrate disaster risk reduction elements into its Safe School Initiative.
Nigerian schools should not just be protected from terrorist and bandits’ attacks, kidnappings, and killings, they should be disaster-resilient too.

Except for the Federal Government and a few states, most emergency management agencies in the country cannot respond to disasters of any form. This, of course, maybe due to poor funding among others. States must address this deficiency in a long-term manner.

Governments at all levels must ramp up climate change awareness and build resilient communities that can withstand disasters.

There must be a strong protocol for early warnings and the government must invest in modern technology to boost prompt and accurate warnings. Evacuations must be clinically done whenever they become inevitable while adequate safe houses and camps are provided for victims. They should not be further dehumanised by poor government response.

States should stop diverting ecological funds meant for mitigating climate change challenges and account for funds disbursed in the past.

The government should engage stakeholders such as engineers, architects, safety and health, urban and regional planning experts, and emergency management specialists, among others, to develop a strong resilience-building template for the country to ensure a disaster-free future for children and youth.