Involving Youth in Disaster Risk Reduction Planning Through Collaboration with DEM and Ministry of Education

The Department of Emergency Management (DEM) is collaborating with other disaster management organisations and the Ministry of Education to involve young people in disaster risk reduction planning.

During a youth forum held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Thursday, officials underscored the importance of engaging the youth in pertinent issues impacting the island such as climate change and getting them involved in national discussions on how to address these issues.

Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency Elizabeth Riley used real-life examples, such as the sweltering heat being experienced in the region, to convey the importance of young people understanding the tenets of climate change and proposing ideas to deal with it.

“Excess heat is now a hazard that we in the Caribbean have to now pay attention to. It means that when we’re designing schools, we have to think differently about what we’re doing with our windows, the ventilation, how we are going to keep students cool in the classroom because you can’t focus when it’s too hot and that’s for teachers and for students,” she said.

“Hazards are a challenge for all of us. It impacts all of us . . . . According to CARICOM [the Caribbean Community], 60 per cent of our 18 million citizens in CARICOM fall into the category of the youth; that’s actually just over 10 million persons that are in the category of the youth. So what we’re saying is that if we’re talking about disasters and addressing disasters, we have to engage the whole population, we cannot leave out [the] 60 per cent . . . Our future as a region really depends on the further engagement of you, but also the empowerment of you,” Riley told the secondary school students who participated in the event.

Deputy Chief Education Officer Julia Beckles added that young people must be critical thinkers from an early age to tackle issues of national significance.

“When we speak about resilience, we are speaking about getting you prepared, making sure that you can respond. Very often you hear all the talk about having these skills of being able to be a critical thinker and being a problem solver. A more resilient Barbados is a more resilient you and a more resilient you is speaking really about your ability to solve problems that in the face of challenges you stand up and you see how best you can move on,” she said.

Beckles said stakeholders were more cognisant that they must do more to ensure that the youth understand and that their “mental modes are attuned to the whole idea of resilience”.

“So that when disaster strikes, your country can rely on you, your family can rely on you, your community can rely on you, your neighbours can rely on you.”

Director of the DEM Kerry Hinds said the forum was one of the many activities her organisation was hosting to engage young people in disaster risk reduction. (SZB)