THE Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is set to launch on Friday a comprehensive public education campaign targeting school-aged children and youths.The launch is billed for the Umana Yana on Upper High Street, Kingston, while the objective of the campaign is to inform its target audience of the various types of disasters there are; what actions to take, if and when such disasters occur; and the various methods used in preparing for such an eventuality.
“Everyone has a role to play in disaster preparedness,” said CDC Director-General, Col Ret’d Chabilall Ramsarup Friday during the course of the final evaluation of the agency’s Strengthening National and Local Capacity for Disaster Response and Risk Reduction Project, at which forum the announcement was made regarding the campaign.
He also made the important observation that youths also have a key role to play in the sharing and dispersal of critical information which may be needed to prepare for, survive and recover from any potential disaster.
The campaign will include the distribution of posters, and holding of debates, poetry and essay competitions, and exhibitions, and is being launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and various stakeholder organisations.
The Strengthening National and Local Capacity for Disaster Response and Risk Reduction Project, which was funded by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDF), resulted in interviews, document reviews, research and a fact-finding visit to Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne, which was recently affected by flooding) conducted by Consultant, Dr. Hans M Ewoldsen.
Issues or potential disasters which came under probe included riverain floods, storms, drought, forest fires, tsunami, industrial/ chemical spills, massive explosions, and illegal waste disposal.
Among the project’s objectives, Dr Ewoldsen said, are to build capacity; develop strategies to achieve required capacity; development of staff and facilities; and educating and training of stakeholders.
Thus far, he said, all of the foregoing objectives have been met, which makes the CDC fully prepared to provide overall management of any local disaster .
In addition to its education drive, the CDC will also be launching shortly, its strategic plan for the next two years.