‘Our voice has been heard in Sendai’

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Youth leaders Tam Viet Hoang and Marie-Louise Schwarzenberg ponder a successful World Conference at the end of the Sendai meeting. (Photo: UNISDR)
Youth leaders Tam Viet Hoang and Marie-Louise Schwarzenberg ponder a successful World Conference at the end of the Sendai meeting. (Photo: UNISDR)

INCHEON, 25 March 2015 – The new Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is built on inclusion and highlights the important role of children and young people as “agents of change.”

Youth formed a vibrant presence last week in Sendai and their efforts ahead of, and during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, contributed to the successful outcome in Japan.

The global youth movement to reduce disaster risk is expanding. It arrived in Sendai with a clear message – ‘include us, don’t use us’ – and emerged from the World Conference satisfied that its voice had been heard and acted upon.

Tam Viet Hoang has been one of the leaders in promoting the perspectives of young people: “We came here with an ambitious agenda and we have engaged with and received recognition from a high level.

“You can go to 100 forums and hear about ‘youth empowerment’. What is unique about this World Conference is that we have come as youth to talk about a specific area and how our group can contribute to the HFA2. We leave in a very positive frame of mind. Our voice has certainly been heard.”

Tam pointed to an exciting period ahead. “We can’t continue to just do capacity building at a base level. It is great to have basic emergency training – such as ‘Drop, Cover, Hold’ – but now we have to look at what is the next stage for the youth movement as well as the DRR community in general.”

He explained how his many years as a rescue volunteer in New South Wales’ State Emergency Service (SES), in Australia, had steered him towards disaster prevention: “After standing on the roofs of flooded houses on a number of occasions I started to think more about why this was happening.”

Tam has been busy during this World Conference in his various roles: Deputy Chair of Youth Beyond Disasters; the Global DRR Focal Point for the UN Major Group for Children and Youth; and a member of the jury for the 2015 Sasakawa Award for DRR.

Fellow youth coordinator Marie-Louise Schwarzenberg said the World Conference had enabled several new networks and links to be established. The group’s social media outreach has been a success with more than 4,000 followers keeping track of progress on the special ‘Youth Page’ established for the WCDRR.

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