“I learned the hard way but knowledge is vital when you have a couple of seconds to decide what to do,” added Ms Nemcova who is now devoting part of her time to rebuilding safe schools in post-disaster areas and promoting disaster risk reduction to better protect children against disasters.

In addition to the debate, UNISDR also relaunched an upgraded version of its Stop Disasters game, developed by partner PlayerThree.

The game teaches players how to understand a risk map and to invest in simple mitigation measures such as upgrading the resilience of schools, hospitals and houses or planting mangrove barriers to protect shores of exposed communities.

The game was launched in 2006 and includes five scenarios – tsunami, flood, earthquake, hurricane, wildfire – with three levels of difficulty. The player has a budget to spend, and tasks to make their town more resilient against disasters within a time limit before a real disaster is simulated.

The simulation game has already been viewed by millions of players and, in its upgraded form, is now also accessible on smart phones and tablets. The Stop Disasters game has also inspired a popular new massive and open online course (MOOC) developed by McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Mr. Hamish Young, Chief, Humanitarian Action and Transitions Section, Programme Division at UNICEF; Mr. Futoshi Toba, Mayor of Rikuzentakata, Japan and Mr. Toshiya Hoshino, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York also participated in the discussion and highlighted the importance of knowledge in anticipating and preventing future disasters.

Date:

6 Nov 2018

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - New York UNHQ Liaison Office (UNISDR NY)

Themes:

Education & School Safety, Advocacy & Media, Disaster Risk Management, Children and Youth

Hazards:

Tsunami

Countries:

United States of America