Towards resilient communities in developing countries through education of children for disaster preparedness

In developing countries, educating all levels of the society for disaster threats is not always possible due to lack of expertise and educational materials. Consequently, one of the best ways of publicising awareness programmes can be the integration of these initiatives into children's activities. Since over half of the population in many developing countries is under 18 years of age, it is possible to convey vital information to most of the population via the knowledge, skills and enthusiastic motivation of children. They are able to disseminate messages throughout their societies, starting with their parents. Fortunately, the level of acceptance in parents from their children is generally high in these countries. The first objective of this paper is to look at awareness-raising as a core to all disaster mitigation programmes. The paper then focuses on earthquake education through children. The study will also illustrate this process through a selection of examples of educational campaigns in different developing countries resulting in successful public awareness-raising for children. These programmes strengthen resilience among communities by enabling them to withstand shocks, cope with emergencies when they occur and bounce back from disaster impact.