Millions of children are made homeless, lose loved ones, and suffer injuries and psychological trauma during and after disasters. Children and youth are usually considered vulnerable groups, both during and after a disaster. However, evidence shows that they could be active agents for risk reduction.
In Rampal upazilla of Bagerhat District, youths developed a digital database to track the information of the communities. From this database, they identify which households have children, older people, or disabled people so that they can be served first during any disaster. In disaster-prone Bhola district, youths organize theatre and other similar activities to demonstrate things to do before, during, and after disasters.
Children and youths developed shishu-dol and shishu-sangbadik dol, where different issues are discussed. They publish and circulate the magazine named ‘’Projonmo" to show how children and youth may play effective roles in combating disaster. They raise awareness using social media.
Nevertheless, engaging children and youth in combating disasters has not been free of challenges. One of the major obstacles for children and youth to participate in DRR activities is the discouragement of parents. It is mainly because the parents think that such engagements hamper their regular studies.
For girls in particular, major obstacles include disapproval from parents for safety and security concerns. Parents often think their daughters may be exposed to sexual harassment. Religious norms also play a critical role in forming disapproval among the parents regarding the girls’ participation.
Apart from the negative attitude of society, teasing by peer members outside the group, child marriage, and forced participation in political activities also cause poor participation by girls in such activities.
Another important issue raised by the parents is that they are afraid of their children's political engagement. They think that these young children and youth could be manipulated by the political parties in the process of their volunteerism in community activities.
They, therefore, show skepticism about allowing their children to go out and be engaged in community activities; including DRR activities offered by the respective projects.
These findings were revealed by a study conducted by the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka, in collaboration with World Vision Bangladesh, Action Aid Bangladesh, Plan International Bangladesh, and Save the Children International. The study identified some of the best practices, challenges, and way forward for engaging children and youths for DRR in the selected eight districts of Bangladesh.
The study came up with specific recommendations for combating the challenges and ensuring effective engagement of children and youth.
An awareness-building program for parents is the first thing to do for escalating children's and youth's engagement in DRR activities. Engaging religious leaders in such awareness programs could be effective. It is a strategic move to eliminate religious hindrances from society in terms of engaging young people in volunteering activities.
Women, especially, encounter more such religious obstacles. Thus, the focus of this program may be to eliminate the barriers for girls in particular by convincing their families and local elites as well.
A careful initiative needs to be taken to prohibit the misuse of volunteer forums for partisan purposes. This issue is a matter of constant fear among the parents. Hence, to ensure uninterrupted engagement of children and youth in such activities, strict prohibition of such misuse is a must.
Developing the alumni network of the volunteers and connecting them with the government, development partners, and other stakeholders was found vital. Because no individual serves for their lifetime. Volunteers look for better employment opportunities. Many of them were already serving at different places.
If they could be engaged with their very own predecessors, the current volunteers would be motivated to work efficiently. In addition, this would also attract other non-volunteer children and youth of the locality to work under the program.
The study further suggests that relations with local government officials, relations with other stakeholders, and the magnitude of innovation are three vital factors for making the children and youth-led Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) approach successful.
Relations with the community have been found to be very good in all the selected districts. In fact, in community engagement projects, a relationship with the community is a fundamental precondition for all projects to be enrolled; however, it is deemed that it alone is not sufficient to generate a significant outcome.
On the other hand, a good relationship with local government officials gives entitlement and power to the volunteers, which are pivotal to upholding the motivation and confidence of their parents.
Confidence, in this sense, means that the parents do consider that recognition from local government officials ensures safety and security for their children. Relationships with other stakeholders, which mainly refer to community leaders and local elites, help to remove stigmatization and accelerate the motivation of the volunteers. They are critical in creating awareness among parents and can stop the taboos that are still in play.
The magnitude of innovation is important because it ensures efficacy. Our young generation in this era of digitization is interested in technology. Technology brings changes that the youth are more comfortable adopting. These changes bring a fruitful outcome that improves the situation, in this case by reducing disaster risks.
Girls’ participation, though found moderately important in this analysis, can’t be ignored at any given length. Girls’ participation improves the quality of the community services rendered by the volunteer team.
In the DRR process, some issues require women’s involvement, and if they are not embodied in the process, the outcome appears to be less effective to many extents.
In short, for engaging the children and youths in DRR, all the relevant stakeholders should move forward with piloting and expanding innovation, engaging the community and local government.
Bipasha Dutta is Senior Manager-Communication, Strategy and Innovation, World Vision Bangladesh.
