Children Showcase Their Climate Change Understanding in Laba

Children from St Mary’s Primary School with the banner they designed about disaster risk reduction.

Media release

Date: 25/06/2018

Children Showcase Their Climate Change Understanding in Labasa

A meeting to showcase what children know about climate change and reducing the risk during disasters has been held for the first time in Labasa.

The one-day meeting, hosted by Save the Children Fiji (SC Fiji), involved around 90 children from four schools and five disadvantaged communities that are part of SC Fiji’s Child-Centred Disaster Risk Reduction (CDRR) Project.

The children attending were members of nine Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Clubs from around Macuata that convened at the Labasa Muslim Primary grounds. The DRR clubs have been established by SC Fiji in these communities to build children’s resilience to climate change and disasters.

Save the Children Fiji CEO Iris Low-McKenzie said, “The day allowed for children to present learnings from their DRR Clubs through creative and fun mediums which included poetry, posters, art work and part-taking in a character parade.

Year five student Amelia delivered a poem in the itaukei language that talked about disasters in Fiji becoming more dangerous. In her poem she said, “We need to be prepared, we need to know that its impacts can happen to anyone and since we only have one life, we need to know how to reduce risks and better equip ourselves with necessary disaster preparedness actions.”

Vanshika, 13 of a Primary School in Labasa delivered a poem in Hindi about the unpredictability of disasters today and emphasised the need to know what to do in the event of a tsunami, earthquake or cyclone and not wait for one to happen to finally learn basic preparedness and safety drills.

Ms Low-Mckenzie said, “Key take-outs from the day’s event included the importance to take DRR actions to reduce risks around communities and schools, while also understanding how to adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as intensifying disasters, which are now a common feature on the news.

“As today’s children in the Pacific Islands will be facing more and more disasters and impacts of climate change than the previous generations have, we need to make sure they are better prepared to manage the increasing disaster risk posed by climate change in the Pacific.”

The next DRR Club event will take place in Western Division on Friday 29 July.

ENDS

© Scoop Media