project Children’s voices in disaster policy spaces
theme: voice and participation
Many approaches to disaster management still assume children are passive victims with no role to play in preventing and responding to disasters. This research project is challenging this view and asking what lessons we can learn from childrens' engagement in disaster managment to to better understand children's participation in climate change policy spaces.
Before no-one listened to us, but now they listen and take us seriously
Children’s Emergency Committee member, Petapa, El Salvador
project particulars
co-ordinator: Dr Tom Mitchell, IDS
partners: Plan UK
researchers: Dr. T. Mitchell & Dr. T. Tanner, IDS, UK; Dr. N. Hall, Plan UK; Dr. K. Haynes, RMIT, Australia; Dr. E. Luna, Centre for Disaster Preparedness, Philippines, Professor M. Gaborit, Universidad Centroamericana, El Salvador
duration: 2007-2008
funders: Plan UK
countries: Philippines, El Salvador
overview
This preliminary research examined the opportunities for children's voices to influence decision-making on disaster risk reduction at a number of different scales. It looked at how Plan's multi-country initiative 'Children and Young People at the Centre of Disaster Risk Reduction' is helping to create these opportunities. The research highlighted cases of children effectively influencing disaster management decisions and actions in their community.
key findings
The findings suggest that the roles of children and youth as potential informants within informal and formal risk communication networks have been underestimated, but their positive role in disaster risk reduction can be significant.
Preliminary findings from this research and scoping of risk communication by children has been published in The Roles of Children in Communicating Disaster Risk in Children, Youth and Environment.
This research has led to a three-year ESRC funded programme investigating disaster and climate risk communication by children and young people.
