The Stop Disasters Game encourages thinking about preparedness and emergency planning

By Brigitte Leoni

New York, 5 November 2018 – Students attending a World Tsunami Awareness Day Event in New York have called for more educational programmes on disaster risk reduction from an early age.

Twenty students, aged 16 to 18 years, and their teachers from the United Nations International School and Keio Academy discussed ways to be better informed to prevent and deal with disasters at the event organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Government of Japan.

“We need to feel that we can anticipate disasters. Participating in earthquake and tsunami drills is important but we also need to understand why disasters do happen and what we can do to reduce their negative impacts,” said a student from the United Nations International School.

“Learning from an early age how to invest in prevention measures is very important as you will be the city planners and decision makers in the world of tomorrow,” said the UN Special Representative for the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori, opening the event.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global plan for reducing disaster losses by 2030, recognizes the role and responsibilities of children and youth as agents of change and calls for their participation in disaster risk reduction.

“If I had known what to do back in 2004 when the tsunami struck in the Indian Ocean…I would have probably reacted in a different way,” said Petra Nemcova, Co-Founder of “All Hands and Hearts-Smart Response” and UNISDR World Tsunami Awareness Advocate who lost her companion in the tragedy.