Adolescent Propoters as agents of change in disaster risk management

Adolescent Promoters as agents of change in disaster risk management

This guide has been produced by RET-Protecting Through Education according to the mandate of the Inter-American Children’s Institute – IIN of the Organization of American States - OAS, with funds donated by World Vision.

Authorities: Dr José Miguel Insulza – OAS Secretary General Ms Gloria Lozano – President of the Directing Council of IIN Ms Zaira Navas – Vice-President of the Directing Council of IIN Ms María de los Dolores Aguilar Marmolejo – Director General of IIN Development: Sussana M. Urbano Hanson – DRR Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean – RET Coordination: Magda Pinilla – Coordinator of the Disaster Risk Management Area of IIN Ángela María Escobar C. – Deputy Director of RET in Latin America & the Caribbean Revision: Magda Pinilla – Coordinator of the Disaster Risk Management Area of IIN Ángela María Escobar C. – Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean – RET Marina Anselme-López, – Chief Programme Development & Evaluation Officer – RET ISBN: 978-958-99335-8-9 Agencies responsible: Inter-American Children’s Institute – IIN, Av. 8 de Octubre 2904, Casilla de Correo 16212, Montevideo, Oriental Republic of Uruguay.

RET Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean-Protecting Through Education, Edif. 230, Piso 3, Oficina D, Ciudad del Saber, City of Panama, Republic of Panama.

CONTENTS

Introduction 7 Background 7 Purpose 7 Abbreviations and Acronym 7 Glossary of Terms 8

1. The Rights/based approach to children and adolescents 11 1.1.The Integration of Children and Youth in Disaster Risk Management 11 2. Participation 2.1. Conceptual framework regarding the promotion and protection of child participation 2.2. Components of the child participation process 2.3. Child participation in disaster risk management.

12 12 14 15

3. Method to promote and protect child participation in disaster risk management 17 IMPLEMENTATION EXAMPLE 18 NOTE: 18 3.1. Participation and Empowerment 18 3.2. Risk: conceptual management and recognition 21 3.3. Development of proposals and implementation of risk management actions 25 3.4. Risk management action communication and visibility.

28 List of References

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Introduction

Background The Inter-American Children’s Institute, IIN, is a specialized organization of the Organization of American States, which, together with its member states, has been working in matters involving childhood and adolescence since 1927, permanently promoting commitment regarding the rights and well-being of children. It has become a hemispheric reference point, and an Inter-American System enabler in processes involving agreement and coordination with regard to the principal regional efforts in this field.

This guide is part of a Kit, which contains the “Policy Framework for the Promotion and Protection of Child Rights in Disaster Risk Management” and three operational guides as an aid to its application.

These contents are complemented by the practical actions contained in the guide on “Strategic Management and Coordination for the Protection of the Rights of Children affected by Emergencies or Disasters: Operating Tools for Officials” and the “Operating Handbook for the Comprehensive Protection of Children in Emergencies or Disasters”. This all comes under disaster risk management in the structure of the institutional Action Plan.

Purpose The objective of this guide is to offer a reference framework and a methodology in order to incorporate children through their active participation in the transformation of their physical and social settings (their homes, communities and institutions), from the perspective of risk reduction and by strengthening their capacity, self-confidence, vision and protagonism as a collective.

The methodology used in the Play and Education Conference for the Empowerment of Children and Youth in DRM was developed by RET - Protecting Through Education, an non-governmental organization, and includes games, educational exercises and activities, proposals for action and communication in disaster risk management.

Abbreviations and Acronyms CRC: Convention on the Rights of the Child DRM: Disaster Risk Management DRR: Disaster Risk Reduction HFA: Hyogo Framework for Action IASC: Inter-Agency Standing Committee ICRC: International Committee of the Red Cross IIN: Inter-American Children’s Institute IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 7

NGO: Non-Governmental Organization NNA: Children and adolescents (for documents in Spanish) OAS: Organization of American States RET: Refugee Education Trust UDHR: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN: United Nations UNDP: United Nations Development Programme UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund UNISRD: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction UN-OCHA: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Glossary of Terms Adaptation to climate change: Adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities (IPCC, 2000).

Capacity: The combination of all the strengths, attributes and resources available within a community, society or organization that can be used to achieve agreed goals (UNISDR, 2009). .

Child Protection Working Group: The global level forum for coordination and collaboration on child protection in humanitarian settings. The group brings together NGOs, UN agencies, academics and other partners under the shared objective of ensuring more predictable, accountable and effective child protection responses in emergencies (CPWG, N/D. Civil Society: The wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations that have a presence in public life, expressing the interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) therefore refer to a wide of array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations (World Bank, N/D).

Climate change: A variation in climate conditions which persists over a prolonged period (typically decades or longer), attributable to human activities or to natural causes (IPCC, 2000).

Disaster Risk Management: The systematic process of using administrative directives, organizations, and operational skills and capacities to implement strategies, policies and improved coping capacities in order to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and the possibility of disaster (UNISDR-2009). It is the practice that leads to lessening the risk of disaster.

Disaster Risk Reduction Focusing on Childhood and Youth: Disaster risk reduction that places children and youth and the centre of its activities, recognizes children’s specific vulnerabilities to disasters, focuses on the needs and rights of children, supports and is based on child participation in order to identify and address their needs and rights (Save the Children, 2011).

Disaster Risk Reduction: The concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the environment, 8

and improved preparedness for adverse events (UNISDR, 2009). Risk reduction is the political objective of disaster risk management.

Disaster Risk: The potential disaster losses, in lives, health status, livelihoods, assets and services, which could occur to a particular community or a society over some specified future time period (UNISDR, 2009).

Disaster: A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources (UNISDR, 2009).

Early Recovery: The recovery task of rehabilitation and reconstruction begins soon after the emergency phase has ended, and should be based on pre-existing strategies and policies that facilitate clear institutional responsibilities for recovery action and enable public participation. Recovery programmes, coupled with the heightened public awareness and engagement after a disaster, afford a valuable opportunity to develop and implement disaster risk reduction measures and to apply the “build back better” principle (UNISDR, 2009).

Early Warning System: The set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities and organizations threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the possibility of harm or loss (UNISDR, 2009).

Exposure/degree of exposure: Measures of exposure can include the number of people or types of assets in an area. These can be combined with the specific vulnerability of the exposed elements to any particular hazard to estimate the quantitative risks associated with that hazard in the area of interest (UNISDR, 2009).

Gender Equality: Refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, need and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration (PNUD, 2011).

Gender: Refers to the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female and the relationships between women and men and girls and boys, as well as the relations between women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. They are context/ time-specific and changeable. Gender determines what is expected, allowed and valued in a women or a man in a given context (UN-WOMEN, 2002).

Global Protection Cluster: Established in 2005 as part of the humanitarian reform, the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) is the main inter-agency forum at the global level for standard and policy setting as well as collaboration and overall coordination of activities supporting the protection response in complex and natural disaster humanitarian emergencies (GPC, N/D).

Hazard: A dangerous phenomenon or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage. It may be attributable to human activities or to natural causes (UNISDR, 2009). An external Risk factor.

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Mitigation (in relation to climate change): Measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (UNISDR, 2009).

Mitigation (in relation to disaster): The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters (UNISDR, 2009).

Preparedness: The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions (UNISDR, 2009). Note: Preparedness is an action that takes place in the context of disaster risk management. Its main objective is to develop capabilities to efficiently manage all types of emergencies and make methodical and orderly transitions from the response to a sustained recovery. Preparation is based on sensible disaster risk analysis and linkages with early warning systems. Preparation includes activities such as contingency planning, the reserve of equipment and supplies, the development of provisions for co-ordination, evacuation and public information and training and corresponding field exercises.

Prevention: The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters (UNISDR, 2009).

Protection: All activities, aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law (i.e. human rights, humanitarian and refugee law). Human rights and humanitarian actors shall conduct these activities impartially and not on the basis of race, national, national or ethnic origin, language or gender (ICRC, 1999).

Resilience: The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions. Concept extended by UNISDR-2009.

Rights Approach: Framework that integrates the norms, principles, standards and goals of the international human rights system into the plans and processes of development. It is characterized by the methods and activities that link the human rights system and its inherent notion of power and struggle with development (Boesen and Martin, 2007).

Risk: The combination of the probability of an event occurring and its negative consequences (UNISDR, 2009). The result of a hazard coupled with vulnerability.

Sustainable development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (UNISDR, 2009).

Vulnerability: The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard (UNISDR, 2009). An internal Risk factor.

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1. The Rights/based approach to children and adolescents

1.1. The Integration of Children and Youth in Disaster Risk Management The rights-based approach to children and youth in risk management and creating disaster resilience recognizes children and youth as independent persons and empowers them to commit themselves to their rights, demand them and participate in their compliance.

Risk reduction focusing on children and youth puts them at the centre of activities, recognizing their specific vulnerabilities during emergencies or disasters, according to their stage of life. It also focuses on needs and rights, and supports and relies on the active participation of children and youth in order to identify and address their needs and rights. 1 This approach:

• Contributes to focusing more strongly on children who are exposed to specific risk and whose rights are systematically violated.

• Fosters the empowerment of local organizations and communities through awareness-raising regarding child rights and the effect of damage-generating events on their realization and enforceability.

• Links overcoming emergencies to sustainable development through active engagement and child participation in recovery and rebuilding processes that bear their opinions in mind when measuring the risks that children are subjected to and their continuing effects on future generations.

• Demands that equitable procedures be in place in countries. These processes can be doubly sustainable if active child participation is included in all actions undertaken, which empowers children, not only in their present circumstances, but also by preparing them to perform their roles as adults.

Save the Children International. (2011). Reducing Risks, Saving Lives: Save the Children’s approach to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. 6p. London, United Kingdom. http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/ Reducing_Risks_Saving_Lives_1.pdf 1

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2.

Participation

2.1. Conceptual framework regarding the promotion and protection of child participation Participation seeks to influence decision-making processes and make changes. Children’s participation should be informed and voluntary, should involve any matter that concerns them directly or indirectly, and include children with different abilities and children being subjected to risk2.

Participation, understood as a process, as continuous learning and involvement in public issues, benefits the active incorporation of children in subjects which interest them generally and particularly. It therefore contributes to empowering more democratic, fair and inclusive societies.

Child participation is a value that encompasses and is generated in all environments where children are involved. The meaningful participation of children seeks to provide them with genuine opportunities to express their points of view, be involved in decisions or take action. This kind of participation is grounded on widely established international law and on the CRC in particular. These instruments stipulate that: • Children have rights to be listened to, to freely express their views on all matters that affect them, and to freedom of expression, thought, association and access to information.

• Measures should be put in place to encourage and facilitate their participation in accordance with their age and maturity.

• Participation should promote the best interest of children and foster their personal development.

• All children have an equal right to participate without discrimination.

• All children have the right to be protected against manipulation, violence, abuse and exploitation.

The principle of participation implies different things for children and for adults. Child participation implies acknowledging children’s right to participate in decisions that affect their lives, their families and their communities, according to their maturity; to understand and contribute according to their stage of life.

This kind of participation should contribute to addressing children’s needs and priorities that the children themselves have established; it should be free and meaningful, rather than imposed or manipulated.

Save the Children. (2005). Practice Standards in Children’s Participation, 12 p. London, United Kingdom. http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.se/content/library/documents/est%C3%A1ndares-para-la-participaci%C3%B3n-de-la-ni%C3%B1ez 2

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Once adults understand that children are holders of rights, they can accept that relationships must be based on negotiation. This is promoted by listening to them assertively, facilitating venues and opportunities so that they can establish relationships with their peers, allowing them to express themselves and acknowledging their different forms of expressing themselves.

Disregarding child participation in disaster risk reduction can lead to erroneous assumptions and interpretations in relation to the issues that are most significant to this age group. Likewise, it prevents making an identification of the issues that children are facing and the best way to address them. This, in turn, might lead to an increase in their vulnerability. In certain cases, depending on age and other features (such as at the early childhood stage), it is the parents or caregivers who should be taken into account and heard before implementing specific evaluation activities and making decisions.

In relation to the implications of community participation, initiatives that foster dialogue and promote the right of communities to give their opinions, participate and make decisions generate a more relevant, effective and sustainable impact on disaster risk reduction.

The participation of communities contributes to the acknowledgement of their skills and resources, strengthens the links between the various community stakeholders, increases their self-esteem and contributes, in emergencies or disasters, to lessen the sense of loss caused by the damage that has been suffered . 3 Participation from a rights-based perspective, focusing on children, has an effect on sustainable development. In the short term, it promotes social empowerment among children and youth and in the mid and long term, it enables them to impact on these processes consciously, as citizens who are part of a collective.

It should be noted that no right is more important than another, that they all have the same weight and priority, and that their purpose is to ensure the general well-being of children. However, the right to participation is vital, because in addition to endowing children with a sense of empowerment and the development of civic awareness, it enables decision makers to learn at first-hand about the specific feelings and needs of children.

In view of this, Article 12 of the CRC should be noted particularly: “States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law.�

This article provides the grounds to establish the minimum elements that must be fulfilled (the elements of participation) in order to ensure that genuine child participation is achieved:

3 UNICEF/PLAN. (2012). Building strong foundations: Programmatic guide for connecting early childhood development and DRM. 200 p. Panama City, Panama. http://www.unicef.org/lac/Gui_Cons.pdf

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These elements can be found in the operational definition of participation established by IIN-OAS4: Be informed Children should receive information on subjects that interest them, adapted to their capabilities and appropriate in length and quality.

Give opinions Children should be provided with opportunities and venues which will enable them to put forward their ideas and proposals on the subjects that involve them directly, or interest them, giving them the possibility of forming their own opinions, individually or collectively.

Be heard It should be ensured that children’s opinions, ideas or suggestions on the various subjects that involve them directly or interest them, are received and respected by adults.

Influence decisions It should be ensured that children’s opinions, ideas or suggestions are taken into account in decisions made on the different subjects that involve them directly or interest them.

2.2. Components of the child participation process From the point of view that IIN-OAS5 has promoted, child participation should be perceived as a “process” which implies the cyclical development of a number of changes and a readjustment of places, positions, opinions, beliefs and assumptions, making it necessary to reflect upon and evaluate our tasks and objectives at all times.

This model is designed on the basis of links between participation components (Be informed, Give opinions, Be heard and Influence decisions) within a temporal or process-related perspective, since taking these minimum elements in isolation or specifically would imply not viewing them with the significance and magnitude that is their due.

It should be noted that the mere announcement or promotion of the right does not generally guarantee that participation is exercised and acknowledged. Participation, rather, is made manifest in the level of empowerment that children are able to develop on the basis of these components and the recognition of this as their right, based on their own initiatives, taking their life cycle into account, and according to the subjects they are interested in.

As the participatory process is constant and continuous, it reflects an expression of interests, needs, emotions and experiences, all of which begin to connect between each other, as well as with those of the group of participating children.

Promoting opportunities and venues for communication, with equal opportunities for expression, active listening and encouragement in personal and collective decision-making are actions that require guidance. Because of this, the participation process is viewed as an opportunity for socialization and learning, even more in the case of children, who are in the midst of their physical and cognitive development.

IIN-OAS (2010) Menu of Indicators and Monitoring System for Children’s Right to Participation. 60p. Montevideo, Uruguay. http://www.iin.oea.org/IIN2011/documentos/Menu_Indicadores_y_sistema_monitoreo.pdf 5 IIN-OAS (2011) A toolkit for the promotion and protection of child participation in the Americas / Participation as Creative Action Montevideo, Uruguay.

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In this respect, the participatory process will depend on people, their expectations and interests, and on whatever arises during interaction; always building upon previous experiences in order to express new forms of relationship and coexistence. This is how the “cyclical” view of participation can be validated, when the process is not understood as a number of stages added or run through, but as a linking of states or levels of empowerment which can be interconnected, but which make use of or draw upon aspects of the preceding state or level.

This perspective promoted by IIN-OAS identifies seven moments or states, which have been described below in this “Participation Model by Empowerment Levels-IIN 2011”: The process begins when participation is first acknowledged as being part of oneself, as a right and a means of coexistence. To acknowledge this opens the road to new ways of being a citizen.

ACTING Deciding- initiating

“To decide to participate” implies undertaking all of the components of participation with responsibility and sharing them with others, accepting coexistence in a group, being a “part” of something greater than oneself.

COEXISTING Evaluating; evaluating oneself, Forming identities.

To be a subject of rights, a citizen, leads of necessity to thinking as a collective, and thinking about the elements that enable this coexistence to be free, integrationist and democratic. It compels one to see oneself and others in a new light.

BEING

Acknowledging and being acknowledged; “Citizenship”

Comprehensiveness of Rights PARTICIPATING Emerging from “Me”; thinking about “US”

BEING PART OF Belonging The most specific way of showing that one belongs to a “whole” (group, actions) is through behaviour that shows belonging, involvement; seeking to share control with responsibility.

Example: organization and first leadership roles.

DECIDING

HAVING

Influencing

Empowering Transforming, proposing, reinforcing, supporting, involve qualities best assimilated when children feel they are part of something and can intervene in order to help in something which is theirs and which, therefore, will benefit them.

All progress, achievements and obstacles that they experience personally and as a group will allow them to understand their rights better and exercise them fully.

Endowing the process of participation with this flexibility enables apparent participation models or types to shift and develop on the basis of an array of mindful actions involving self-evaluation, creativity, belonging and reconsideration. Finally, this model implies an invitation to participation-action, thus confirming that action creates the conditions for learning, making it more effective and gratifying.

2.3. Child participation in disaster risk management6.

6

IIN-OEA (2011) Child Rights in Disaster Risk Management/Policy position paper. 40p. Montevideo, Uruguay.

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Devoting strategies and resources to setting up and promoting means of participation for children and youth implies, amongst other things, empowering local capacity to face such adverse contexts as disasters. Their participation may be key in such tasks as awareness-raising, the production of risk maps, identifying and promoting a care system for emergencies, the dissemination of information and the promotion of a culture of rights.

Children are active citizens who should be borne in mind as such, in keeping with the principle of progressive autonomy. Demands and expectations with regard to their place in the community and/or society should be consistent with their capacity according to their age and level of evolution.

Frequently, opinions or recommendations which children make are disregarded in decision-making or programme design. In the context of risk and disasters – often under the pressure of urgency – decisions and analyses made by adults are intensified, and the fact is disregarded that children are a part of society and have an enormous potential to contribute in emergencies, such as the role youth can play in these circumstances.

In addition, during disasters participation enables more effective responses, fosters intergenerational encounters and reinstates the role of children and youth, positioning them as agents of change.

Disaster risk management involves many social, political and institutional stakeholders within a framework of facilitation and coordination. In this new framework of relationships, the child’s best interest from the point of view of evolution should be taken into account in all strategies, at the different pre- and post-impact stages, thus contributing to lessening children’s vulnerability, reducing possible damage and developing capacity for response, leading to swift recovery.

The advantages of child participation in disaster risk management strategies involve, on the one hand their capacity for resilience, and on the other, their potential as active promoters of awareness-raising in the face of disaster risk.

In connection with existing hazards, they can become involved, either through their schools, or in action coordinated in the community (by local leaders, for example), in the detection, identification and communication of risks. They can develop a hazards and risks map in their immediate surroundings and identify measures to prevent possible adverse impacts. This does not only involve identifying and communicating risk, but also adopting measures in its regard and taking a leading role in connection with attitudes and steps to diminish negative impact.

If child participation is to be guaranteed, it is essential for adults to devote their work and efforts to promoting it. It should also be conceived in all areas in a coordinated and coherent way: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

In the family In schools/education centres In the community In government In States

Promoting participatory opportunities leads to the enjoyment of rights and is closely linked to the concept of citizenship. Ideas, needs, demands and opinions are expressed which, in the case of risk and disaster, become indispensable. It is, in short, a recognition that children are specifically immersed in this issue, in addition to being the possible promoters of its solution, that is, agents of change.

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3. Method to promote and protect child participation in disaster risk management

The following is a simple and practical method which can be used to trigger activities based on play, exercises and educational and communicational group dynamics related to the subject of DRM. They will allow children to increase their capabilities, confidence, vision and protagonism as a group, with a view to generating positive changes regarding risk in their homes and communities This methodology entails the involvement of children, with links to each of the elements or components of participation. Protecting Through Education is an approach developed by the NGO RET and is implemented through what has come to be known as Jornadas lúdicas pedagógicas para el empoderamiento de niños, niñas, adolescentes y jóvenes en la GRD [“Play and Education Sessions for the Empowerment of Children and Youth in DRM”]. These “sessions” are organized into Phases in which activities are carried out, depending on the skills it is aimed to develop in the specific age group, bearing in mind the interconnection of participation elements or components (Be informed, Give opinions, Be heard and Influence decisions). These phases are: PHASE I Participation and Empowerment

PHASE II

PHASE III

Risk: conceptual mana- Development of propogement and recognition sals and implementation of actions.

PHASE IV Action communication and visibility.

It should be stressed that the Phases are not necessarily linked to independent work sessions, but to processes and activities that can be complementing other activities performed in other projects.

In view of this, the activities could be executed continuously within a certain period, or in separate sessions; the main thing is to attain the objectives and assemble the means of verification.

It should be underlined that the role of the technical team implementing the sessions should be to provide guidance and facilitate proceedings, but that the specific actions at each stage should be performed by the children themselves, so that the resulting actions represent genuine empowerment. As far as possible, of course, within the boundaries imposed by working with the young.

Gender issues, people with special needs, inclusion, etc. should be taken into consideration at all times in these activities.

For further information, programmatic adjustments and support, please write to lac-rrd@theret.org.

In order to further understanding of how each Phase develops, specific sections have been determined, which are described below.

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DESCRIPTION: A simple introduction to each Phase to be carried out, in which essential aspects are pointed out. .

GOAL: Indicates the outcomes to be obtained at the end of each Phase ACTIVITIES: Each of the actions to be performed in each Phase.

TOOLS: One or more tools which can be used to carry out each activity.

KEYS: Significant actions or indications, which can facilitate proceedings and achieve the outcomes for each Phase.

MEANS OF VERIFICATION: A compilation of the outcomes to be obtained at each Phase and then sent to the regional office upon completion.

IMPLEMENTATION EXAMPLE: Examples of the implementation of RET’s proposed methodology in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama.

NOTE: additional observations to be considered.

3.1. Participation and Empowerment This phase consists in working with children to establish their role as agents of change, that they should recognize themselves as rights-holders, with rights, but also with responsibilities. It is sought to enable children to develop skills for tasks involving individual and collective participation, in order to contribute to the enforceability of rights and to act with the purpose of fulfilling them, as part of society.

DESCRIPTION: Child and youth “committees” should be formed at this stage. Group activities should be carried out with these teams, in order to provide information and empowerment in relation to child rights and the different forms of participation. At the end of this session, children should be aware of the contents of the CRC, recognize themselves to be rights-holders and be organized and integrated in a work team.

GOAL: At the conclusion of this phase, children should be organized and prepared to carry out team work and participate with a full awareness of their rights.

ACTIVITIES: • Application of the pre-test tool (a tool applied before beginning any of the phase’s activities; an example is provided in the appendix).

• Organization of Children’s Committees • Group dynamics, exercises and games with the purpose of learning about and practising children’s rights (See appendix, Group dynamics and games for working on child rights; examine the tools suggested).

• Phase I, Post-Test application (a tool applied at the end of all of the phase’s activities; an example is provided in the appendix).

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TOOLS: : • CTB. Community Tool Box. Establishing Youth Organizations http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/provide-information-enhance-skills/youth-organizations/main http://www.savethechildren.es/docs/Ficheros/81/guiaparticipacionvalencia.pdf • UN. Convention on the Rights of the Child. http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc. aspx • UN. Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ • Portal Enredate http://www.enredate-cba.org/etiqueta/promocion-de-derechos/ • RET Project Modules “Building a Happy Present”. Guide#1/Youth Political Participation • RET Project Modules “Building a Happy Present”. Guide#3/Child and Youth Rights • Rodríguez, Loreto. Enfoque de Derechos y Educación Popular [The rights-based approach and popular education] http://sccsur.org/archivos/ensayo1.pdf • Save the Children / UNICEF. PARTICIPATION IS ALSO FOR CHILDREN /TEACHERS’ GUIDE NOTE: Other tools that the implementing technical team has considered during its regular activities may be used. Reference should be made to the tools used; each tool should be specifically noted, together with its authors.

KEYS: In this phase, it should be borne in mind that all committees that are formed should take gender issues and the inclusion of groups with special needs into consideration.

Steps should be taken to ensure that committees formed identify their strengths and weaknesses and draft an action plan that will enable them to act as a team, in a coordinated, equitable and effective manner.

MEANS OF VERIFICATION: • A written report indicating date, place, number of participants, a brief description of the activity and tool used and photographic evidence of the formation of the committees (Committee Organization Summary form provided in the appendix).

• A list of committee members (a committee members form is provided in the appendix).

• A summary indicating date, place, number of participants, a brief description of the activity and tool used and photographic evidence of the group dynamics exercises and games used to learn about and practice the CRC (Summary of Rights Learning form provided in the appendix).

• Written compilation and photographic testimonies in relation to the following question (Phase I Testimony Compilation form provided in the appendix).

Why is it important for children to take an active part in demanding their rights and resolving their problems?

• Pre-test and Post-test compilation (PHASE I Pre-Test and Post-Test in the appendix).

NOTE: The implementation team should remember to send in their means of verification for this phase, once it has been completed and before starting on the next, in order to avoid the accumulation of information that is vital for monitoring the process.

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IMPLEMENTATION EXAMPLE

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

• Empowerment in Rights - Constitution of the DRR Youth Committee –”Chic@s RETnow known as MADIVA” Phase I was carried out with groups of young people from the “Chic@s RET” group, now known as “MADIVA”, in order to avoid being labelled as part of an organization, rather than an independent and autonomous collective composed of individuals who participated in a formation process. These young people have been trained and empowered in an array of subjects, among which are education for peace, inter-cultural issues, respecting diversity and human rights. During Phase I of this project, subjects related to the human rights of youth were examined at greater depth, with a strong emphasis on the right to education, peaceful coexistence, freedom of expression, citizen advocacy and other matters; always on the basis of constructive and meaningful learning and critical education, and pointing out the links between all of this and disaster risk.

To this end, a number of group work dynamics were carried out; among them: “Name in Action” activity, in which they established themselves as a work team and gave themselves a name. How did the project originate and what is it about? To understand the why and the how of the initiative. “I expect / I commit” and coexistence agreements, in which the young people in the collective identified their expectations as well as what they wished to contribute in terms of commitment. Through this activity, the young people came up with: I expect to share, build, eat, enjoy myself, not get bored, respect, etc. I undertake to do anything that will not make us feel uncomfortable, be punctual, participate, respect opinions, listen, collaborate. Finally, “Word Space” which included a flipchart which was left up during the whole session, so that the young people could make notes during the day and whenever they felt the need, regarding words they did not understand or for which they required further explanation. (Photos 1 and 2 - Children during the acknowledgement of rights workshop).

Then the activity “Making lists, making groups” was used in order to organize the DRR youth committee. (Photos 1 and 2 - Children during the acknowledgement of rights workshop).

Ecuador

•Formation of Quito’s Risk Management Youth Committee At a first stage, this phase involved returning to the subject of rights with a group of young people, as well as the importance of active participation in society (Photos 1 and 2 - Young people during the acknowledgement of rights workshop). These young people are involved in the youth initiatives organized by RET for the promotion of peer partnership (youth networks), the coordination of youth processes through the promotion of a rights-based approach, the strengthening of the capacity to demand rights and their participation in social and community processes. These young people attend a number of different educational centres or receive educational support at RET, and participate actively in the activities launched by these initiatives.

The committee was formed by young people of both sexes aged between 14 and 17, as well as a young man of 23 who played an interesting role as group leader (Photo 3 - Part of the Committee). He approached his responsibility more as a facilitator than as the leader of a group, representing common interests and the views of young people as regards older people or adults.

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Panama

• Western Panama’s Risk Management Youth Committee - now known as Youth Promoters’ Environmental Committee.

This phase was carried out during a camping trip where children and young people took part in a workshop. Concepts related to the rights-based approach were reinforced, although these young people had already been working on them in the youth organizations that they belong to. Peer integration was strengthened and team work activities were promoted.

In addition, they were given information about the purpose of these sessions and the different phases they involved, with descriptions of the activities to be performed and the responsibilities they should undertake.

At that time, the children put forward their expectations, individual objectives, needs and the resources they required in order to fulfil their objectives.

Western Panama’s Risk Management Youth Committee was then formed, which would subsequently rename itself as Youth Promoters’ Environmental Committee. It should be noted that the committee is formed by young people who are part of RET programmes, so they come from different areas of Western Panama and attend different educational centres. Thus, when the objective of the sessions and the activities to be carried out were explained to them, the young people themselves selected a specific community for which they would later design an Action Plan. They selected the District of Capira and as a field of action they chose Nueva Arenosa Primary School.

3.2. Risk: conceptual management and recognition DESCRIPTION: Once the committees of children had been organized and clearly understood their role as rights-holders, they developed activities in order to work on Disaster Risk Management (DRM) concepts and carried out an examination of hazards, vulnerabilities and capabilities in their local environment.

Likewise, the committees identified actions they could carry out as organized teams in order to lessen vulnerability and take advantage of their capabilities.

GOAL: Upon the conclusion of this phase, the Children’s Committees should be in possession of a risk and resources map for their environment, as well as a list of activities that contribute to risk reduction (river and streams clean-up days, tree-sowing days, mural painting with evacuation maps and safe spots for the community, school or community preparedness and response plans, etc.; painting, story-telling and shout-out days on the subject in order to raise awareness in the community; declarations submitted to the authorities or media, etc.).

ACTIVITIES: 1. PHASE II Pre-Test application (a tool applied before beginning any of the phase’s activities).

2. Group dynamics exercises and games to learn about and clearly identify, firstly, DRM-related concepts (hazard, vulnerability, risk, emergency, disasters, prevention, mitigation, etc.) and then, the actions that make it possible to reduce risk 3. Group dynamics exercises and games with the purpose of designing a map or sketch of the community and then identifying and pinpointing on the map, hazards, vulnerabilities, resources and capabilities.

4. Group dynamics exercises and games in order to make a list of the actions that the Children’s Committees are capable of.

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5. PHASE II Post-Test application (a tool applied at the end of all of the phase’s activities).

TOOLS: • Government of Santa Fe/Manual de Actividades para la Gestión del Riesgo [Risk Management Activities Handbook] http://www.santafeciudad.gov.ar/gestionderiesgos/media/files/Manual_de_actividades_-_Santa%20Fe_y_las_Inundaciones.pdf • IIN-OAS - Child Rights in Disaster Risk Management http://www.resdal.org/facebook/Documento-Posicionamiento-spa.pdf • ITDG. Disaster Risk Management and Child Rights • PAHO Colombia. Guide for the production of community risk maps. http://new.paho.org/col/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=808:guia-para-la-elaboracion-de-mapas-de-riesgos-comunitarios&catid=687&Itemid=561 • RET Methodology Guide “Mapping your School”.

• RET Community Risk Diagnostic Instrument focusing on Children and Youth.

• RET Disaster Risk Reduction Concept Presentation.

• UNICEF. Disaster Risk Management in Latin America and the Caribbean / http://www.unicef.org/lac/ UNICEF_TACRO_boletin_emerg_16122011(1).pdf (this publication contains an array of links with tools for this phase) • UNISDR. Summary of the Hyogo Framework for Action for 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters http://www.unisdr.org/files/8720_summaryHFP20052015.pdf • UNISDR. Disaster Risk Reduction Terminology / http://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/terminology NOTE: Other tools that the implementing technical team has considered during its regular activities may be used. Reference should be made to the tools used; each tool should be specifically noted, together with its authors.

KEYS: It is important to ensure that DRM concepts are clearly understood so that risk maps can be produced and possible actions listed. It should be noted that this methodology is guided by the concepts and definitions provided by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Disaster Risk Reduction Terminology (UNISDR).

DRM-related actions should be activities that can be carried out immediately by the Children’s Committees, with the resources available at their schools, youth organizations or communities.

MEANS OF VERIFICATION: • A written report indicating date, place, number of participants, a brief description of the activity and tool used and photographic evidence of the activities for concept appropriation, maps and action identification (Summary of Concepts, Maps and Action Identification form provided in the appendix).

• Written compilation and photographic testimonies in relation to the following questions (Phase II Testimony Compilation form provided in the appendix).

Can children and young people take an active part in reducing disaster risk and becoming more resilient? Why? How can children and young people take an active part in reducing disaster risk?

• Pre-test and Post-test compilation (PHASE II Pre-Test and Post-Test in the appendix).

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Costa Rica

During this Phase, children carried out various activities to discuss and analyse basic DRR concepts; the following group dynamics activities were used: Game: Bomb and Fuse: the facilitator promoted the analysis of the main concepts related to disaster risk management, using the analogy of a bomb to symbolise a disaster, and a fuse as risk. It was explained to participants that when a disaster comes into contact with a risk, an ‘explosion’ occurs. With this as a starting point, the facilitator made a presentation to reinforce these concepts.

After this activity, participants asked questions and analysed the concepts. One young woman referred to human-related hazards such as over-crowding, while one of the young men gave the example of Alajuela, where throwing garbage in the streets blocks the sewers and causes flooding of streets, houses and businesses. At one point, the facilitator asked what they would do in the case of a disaster, in order to recover their everyday life, for example, after a flood caused by a river breaking its banks. Some people said that before that happens, it is important to build in safe places, to which end, before building a house, the site should be analysed. The clearest outcome from this activity was that young people learned to distinguish between the concepts of hazard and disaster and learned about the meaning of vulnerability and resilience.

As a result, they gave examples, conducted analyses and proposed preliminary actions to face suggested events.

Costa Rica

Group dynamics activity: True or False: Participants formed a line, one behind the other.

Once they were in place, the facilitator read out a statement related to DRR and disasters.

Individuals who thought the statement was true moved to the right, those who thought it was false, moved to the left. Later, two of the people who thought the statement was true gave their opinions and two of the people who thought it was false did the same and then the matter was opened to debate. The same procedure was followed with each statement.

It should be noted that the boys and girls participating in the RET programmes take an active part in educational centres associated with the organization, but they do not necessarily attend class there. In addition, they come from different parts of the city. Because of this, they agreed to draw up a communal risk map for the surrounding areas of the educational centres associated with their activities: El Carmen in Alajuela and El Palmar in San Rafael de Heredia; the action plans will be implemented in these places. The following items were pinpointed in the community sketches: rivers, mountains, vegetation, parks, storm drains, educational centres, health centres, main streets, industries, crops, unsafe buildings, churches, meeting places for homeless people, flood areas, areas that have been most affected by earthquakes, areas where emergencies have occurred. Finally, each group share its work with the plenary. It should be noted that during the activity, the young people realized that the educational centres are located in areas where some kind of disaster risk exists. This confirmed their desire to perform some kind of action that would shed light on the situation, make the matter visible within these educational centres and underline the fact that children need to become dynamic and active in taking action in favour of DRR. A specific example was provided by the young people’s committee that identified the hazards and vulnerabilities in the community of El Carmen, in Alajuela. Many began to remember times when emergencies had taken place, related to natural or human-caused hazards. They said that there is a very deep ditch opposite the school, which always causes flooding in nearby areas, because it is always filled with rubbish, which blocks the passage of water and once caused an accident involving a person on a bicycle. This was an example of how they linked the subject to their everyday life and thus became aware that it is not unconnected to their own surroundings, which led to their undertaking to carry out preventive action and disseminate information on the matter.

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Costa Rica

• What can we do, as individuals, families, educational centres, communities?

On the basis of resilience premises: “We have - We are - We can”, every group listed an array of community, family and personal resources, and actions that could be performed with the use of these resources, in those three areas. In answer to these questions: • What actions or changes should take place?

The young people identified actions that could be carried out by individuals, families, educational centres and communities. In relation to actions that families could carry out: emergency plan, emergency first aid kit, stock up on tinned food and torches with batteries, the 4R (recycle, reduce, reuse and reject). Individual actions: 4R, keep calm, generate environmental and moral awareness, inform the community and the family.

In educational centres: fire extinguishers, emergency first-aid kit, repair gutters and drains, drainage system, ramps for disabled persons, recycling campaign, educate about the meaning of hazard, disaster, risk and vulnerability (by means of an informative and creative mural and an information bulletin). In the community: water levels, community emergency plan, refrain from garbage dumping, 4R, information sharing, organize an activity to educate the community about the vulnerabilities we are exposed to.

• Who should carry out these changes?

Young people in communities and educational centres; ourselves.

• When should they take place and for how long?

As soon as possible and as long as necessary for the job to be done well.

• What resources (for example, money, equipment) are required to carry out these changes?

Money, supplies for first-aid kits (bandages, band-aids, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, thermometer, etc.), paint, brushes, turpentine, comfortable clothes for painting the mural.

• Communications (Who should know/be aware of this?)

Everyone involved in family, educational centre and community areas.

Ecuador

Once organized into a committee, the boys and girls received information and knowledge about risk management, through the use of a number of tools and an emphasis on practical tasks.

The committee put into practice the knowledge and skills acquired through exercises in which they identified threats, vulnerabilities and strengths. Because the committee is formed by girls and boys who live in different parts of the city, they decided to carry out the exercises on the basis of a general perspective of the city of Quito.

With the information they compiled, they drew up a general risk map for the city (Photograph 4 - Risk Map Produced by the Committee), on which they identified as the principal serious threats: volcanic activity, earthquakes, landslides and flooding in certain areas of the city. They also mentioned certain everyday elements such as pollution, which, while not giving rise to large-scale events, causes ongoing damage to the environment and heightens risk.

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Panamá

A number of activities were performed in this phase with the purpose of reinforcing knowledge of basic risk management concepts. The techniques used encouraged group work in drafting definitions; subsequently, an interactive presentation addressed questions and any gaps in understanding.

Later, the children and young people put these concepts into practice by producing a risk map of the area they chose to work on (Photographs 4 and 5). There were also lectures on how to distinguish hazards, risks and vulnerabilities. The Metaplan methodology was used, with the purpose of encouraging active participation. There was a great deal of “voice, ear and sight” used and at the same time, there was interaction among participants in writing, with no impediment to individual ideas. Cards with every participant’s ideas were placed in order, with blank spaces which could be filled, if necessary, to add further ideas. This facilitated mutual understanding among the young people. The technique used involved making relevant and timely questions. Each intervention received feedback both from the children and from the facilitators.

3.3. Development of proposals and implementation of risk management actions.

DESCRIPTION: Taking into consideration the previous phase, in which specific DRM actions were identified, the Children’s Committees should design their action plan (including drafting commitments regarding DRM action and subscribing to the Children’s Charter initiative and the One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals Campaign, online or in print) and implement the activity/ies determined in the action plan (e.g. river or stream clean-up day, community communication plan on the subject of disasters, murals on the subject of disasters or showing community risk maps, community or school evacuation plan; depending on the operational and organizational capacity of every Children’s Committee).

GOAL: Upon the conclusion of this phase, empowered children have performed specific actions to generate positive changes regarding the risk situations in which they live, at home and in their communities.

ACTIVITIES: 1. PHASE III Pre-Test application (a tool applied before beginning any of the phase’s activities)..

2. Designing action plans (a form for the production of action plans is provided in the appendix) 3. Execution of action plans.

4. PHASE III Post-Test application (a tool applied at the end of all of the phase’s activities).

TOOLS: • Government of Santa Fe/Manual de Actividades para la Gestión del Riesgo [Risk Management Activities Handbook] http://www.santafeciudad.gov.ar/gestionderiesgos/media/files/Manual_de_actividades_-_Santa%20 Fe_y_las_Inundaciones.pdf • http://ctb.ku.edu/es/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1509.aspx • World Vision Community Resilience Modules. http://www.resilienciacomunitaria.org/index.php?lang=en Note: Other tools that the implementing technical team has considered during its regular activities may be used. Reference should be made to the tools used; each tool should be specifically noted, together with its authors.

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KEYS: It is indispensable that the actions proposed in the action plans be generated, organized and led by the children themselves.

MEANS OF VERIFICATION: • A written summary of the implementation of the action plans, indicating date, place, number of participants, a brief description of the activity and photographic evidence. The action plans themselves should also be included as appendices (forms for the production of action plans and summary of the execution of the action plans are provided in the appendix).

• Written compilation and photographic testimonies in relation to the following questions (Phase III Testimony Compilation form provided in the appendix).

Can children and young people take an active part in building Resilience? Why? How can children and young people take an active part in building Resilience?

• Pre-test and Post-test compilation (PHASE III Pre-Test and Post-Test in the appendix).

Costa Rica

Producing a work plan for every educational centre: In the plenary assembly, on the basis of a prioritization exercise in which every participant chose and prioritized three of the proposed activities to be executed at the educational centre, priority 1 was given three points, priority 2, two points and priority 3, one point. At the end, the points were counted and one activity was chosen to be carried out in each of the educational centres selected. The remaining activities formed a work plan for the educational centres.

All of the young people together, bearing in mind the activity points awarded in one of the previous activities, voted to choose which of the activities they thought could be executed at the educational centres and would fulfil their purpose, within their possibilities and resources.

The activity which obtained the highest number of points was educating about the meaning of a threat, a disaster, a risk and vulnerability (by means of an informative and creative mural) and it was decided to perform this activity at the El Carmen school in Alajuela.

In addition, the young people mentioned the importance of providing a fully-equipped firstaid kit to the El Palmar school, as well as producing an information bulletin board explaining DRR concepts and child participation. Other activities, which were awarded fewer points, were used to draft other action plans, which were delivered to the educational centres as a contribution to the managerial proceedings of the educational communities of these centres.

Ecuador

(Photograph 9 – Risk Map for the Cáceres Municipality).

The young people, already organized in a committee, clearly aware of their duties as well as of their rights, and being familiar with their context and the elements that constitute risks that can trigger disasters, made the decision to work on environmental factors, as they found that one way to contribute to risk reduction is to stop contributing (each in his/her own way) to the city’s pollution. For them, one of the most serious problems in the city of Quito is the poor handling of garbage.

In view of this, they were given inductive talks by facilitator Cristian Loayza and the technical team from the Energy Laboratory of the Polytechnic University of Ecuador, on adequate solid waste handling and how to build biodigesters to reuse organic matter. This included visits to observe biodigesters in operation at different points in the city (Photographs 5 and 6 - Talk on waste disposal and Biodigesters in operation in different areas of the city).

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Based on this, they drew up a plan with the purpose of influencing their family groups and communities, as well as, specifically, the students in three classes of the Reino de Bélgica school, with regard to the importance for the environment and risk management of adequate solid waste handling, and to teach good waste disposal practices in the classroom.

Ecuador

Two types of activities were carried out: 1. Quito’s Youth Committee organized and conducted – with the help of RET facilitators – an awareness and information talk on the importance for the environment and risk management of adequate solid waste handling, teaching good waste disposal practices in the classroom.

About sixty students from the Reino de Bélgica school took part, aged between 10 and 17 years. (Photograph 7 - Committee member talking to young people from the Reino de Bélgica school at the organized talk) Three biodigesters were built and put into operation. The resulting Biol (compost or organic compound produced by the biodigester) was used to fertilize plants at RET headquarters, as a contribution to the constitution of the city’s green layer (Photographs 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 Building the Biodigester and Using the resulting Biol).

Panamá

The children determined that the most immediate hazards in the community are, on the one hand, in everyday life, the motorways that surround the residential areas of Centro Poblado de Lajas Lisas and the Nueva Arenosa school. On the other, landslides and floods are the hazards that have had most impact on the area. They also determined that the causes of landslides and floods were linked to the inadequate use of natural resources and interventions in relation to building homes and agricultural exploitation. They then established the objective of contributing with simple actions in order to lessen the underlying risk factors. In view of this, their action plan consisted in the execution of three activities: 1. With regard to the motorway risk, to improve road safety infrastructure (signs, stops, lighting) around public transport stops and the pavements used by children and youth of the Lajas Lisas area. They decided to involve the local authorities from the start: the district representative, the councilman, and the Council Boards. It should be noted as a positive element of this experience that from the very beginning, the children decided to go beyond their own capabilities in their immediate surroundings and give the authorities a role in their action plans. Thus they obtained the necessary resources from the representative and the councilman (material and human), in order to repair and adapt bus stops, place school road safety signs before and after the town’s school, and obtain their commitment to undertake other activities. At the socialization stage with the authorities, this later led to the political commitment of introducing the subject of risk management and child participation as one of its elements, on the working agenda of the forthcoming administrative period.

2. Contribute to informing the population on disaster risk reduction through knowledge-building activities; the committee members themselves transfer knowledge about risk management and environmental management to the children of Nueva Arenosa school. Together they carry out the whole process of identifying risk and designing their own risk map. This helped to encourage the school to update its school safety plan, together with its authorities and teachers, as well as review its developments. They also applied again to MEDUCA and requested 27

Panamá

an update of the school’s electrical system (computer lab) in order to make it safer. On this occasion, the young people involved the local authorities and teachers in the games they carried out with the children, with a view to knowledge building, and they delivered a number of different tools to the authorities, such as the communications kit, the Guide for Governments Actions for Children and Youth Resilience, the Riskland game and reference material for their work.

3. Raise awareness among district authorities, for their participation in wider-ranging risk management actions than those that the young people can carry out with their own skills and financial resources, in the expectation that risk management should become part of the public policy of these authorities and not be limited to a single school. At this event, the young people delivered letters with specific requests to the authorities (Letters to the Mayor, to the Representative and to the Council Board), they presented their action plan and built a Quipu, reading the messages to the authorities.

3.4. Risk management action communication and visibility DESCRIPTION: This phase includes actions performed by the Children’s Committees to make the work they have undertaken more visible to local authorities, by means of a public event.

Similarly, as a closing activity, some means are expected to be devised to transmit messages containing children’s commitments or expectations regarding DRM, addressed to their peers, their communities and local authorities.

GOAL: Empowered children and youth performing specific communication actions to generate positive changes, based on the vision of child participation in DRM and building resilience in their households and communities to confront emergencies or disasters.

ACTIVITIES: 1. PHASE IV Pre-Test application (a tool applied before beginning any of the phase’s activities).

2. Organization and performance of a public event to deliver the implemented action plans and communicate requests for commitment to action to the relevant local authorities.

3. Production of alternative means of communication or expression. During the final phase of the play and education sessions, the use of an ancestral means of communication is proposed, originating in an Inca communication system known as “Quipu”. Every school or youth organization should produce a one-metre-long rope or piece of twine made with natural material found in their localities (wool, mangle, palm, etc.). Each child will then knot or tie a ribbon of fabric or something similar to it, containing his or her message about DRM and resilience. All of these lengths of rope – the Quipu – produced by the different committees will be joined to each other until a single Quipu has been formed, linking all of the commitments and expectations of the children who took part in the activities, thus symbolizing the union between all these children.

This Quipu is one alternative; any form of expression that the children choose or propose will be equally valid.

4. PHASE IV Post-Test application (a tool applied at the end of all of the phase’s activities).

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KEYS: If necessary and depending on the characteristics of each Children’s Committee, the implementation teams should collaborate with them in their actions before national and local authorities, private enterprises and cooperation agencies, in order to obtain funds to finance their action plans.

MEANS OF VERIFICATION: • A written summary of the activities to deliver the communications or action plans to the local authorities, including date, place, number of participants, brief description of the activity and photographic evidence. In addition, a copy of the documents delivered to the authorities should be included as an appendix.

• A written summary of the activities to produce the means of expression and communication, or the Quipus, including date, place, number of participants, brief description of the activity and photographic evidence. In addition, a compilation of all the Quipus produced.

• Written compilation and photographic testimonies in relation to the following questions (Phase IV Testimony Compilation form provided in the appendix).

Can children and young people take an active part in building Resilience? Why? How can children and young people take an active part in building Resilience?

• Pre-test and Post-test compilation (PHASE IV Pre-Test and Post-Test in the appendix).

Ecuador

Costa Rica

In this phase, the children delivered their action plan and activity report to the Municipal Planning Board of the Cáceres Municipality and produced a Quipu in the form of a cape or blanket.

This experience’s contribution in terms of DRR involves the following: • Children have been empowered in the issue and understand how a small contribution can make a difference to their quality of life and the development of urban environments. They can help lessen the city’s pollution, which is caused by poor solid waste handling and disposal; they view this matter as a factor in risk management.

• Children have acquired knowledge and skills that have allowed them to broaden their vision of their community’s risk context.

• Children have experience of team work behaviour and as contributing citizens they can contribute to overall well-being and the enjoyment of individual and collective rights.

• Children have identified the links between the realization of their rights and the impact of disasters upon them, and how they can act and make demands with a view to lessening risks.

In this phase, and on the basis of their previous activities and the committee’s special features, they obtained access to people they knew who might have influence on others. The person they picked as being relevant to dissemination and impact beyond what they could do, was the Director of the School. They sought to have this person implement the good practices that they developed as regular practices within the education community (Photograph 13 - RET presentation to the authorities of the Reino de Bélgica school).

In addition, they produced a Quipu as an alternative means to represent with its messages their concerns, which might serve to guide others and improve safety (Photographs 14, 15, 16 and 17 - Production and presentation of a Quipu).

This experience’s contribution in terms of DRR involves the following: 29

Ecuador

• Children have experience of team work behaviour and as contributing citizens they can contribute to overall well-being and the enjoyment of individual and collective rights.

• Children have acquired knowledge and skills that have allowed them to broaden their vision of their community’s risk context and have identified the actions that they could contribute in order to reduce risk.

• Young people are aware of their responsibility regarding resilience, not only for themselves, but for their families and communities.

• Children have been empowered in the issue and understand how the role they play can make a difference to their quality of life and the development of urban environments. They can help lessen the city’s pollution, which is caused by poor solid waste handling and disposal; they view this matter as a factor in risk management, which reduces the impact of underlying factors.

• Children have identified the links between the realization of their rights and the impact of disasters upon them, and how they can act and make demands with a view to lessening risks.

Panamá

In this phase, the children on the committee delivered their action plan and activity report to the local authorities, the District Representative, the Councilman, and the Council Boards (see previous photographs) and they produced a Quipu using natural branches and pieces of reused fabric.

This experience’s contribution in terms of DRR involves the following: • Children have experience of how to build in a collective team, and have also acquired a perspective of their individual responsibilities as contributing citizens who can contribute to overall well-being and the enjoyment of their own rights, or those of their peers or other vulnerable persons.

• Children have identified the links between the realization of their rights and the impact of disasters upon them, and how they can act and make demands with a view to lessening risks.

• Children have acquired knowledge and skills that have allowed them to broaden their vision of their community’s risk context and understand that they can reduce risk by using their own capabilities.

• Children have been empowered in the issue and understand how their actions, however small or young they are, can influence adults and make a difference to their quality of life and the development of their communities. They understand that disasters have a direct impact on these substantive elements in their lives.

• In addition to promoting respect for life as a value, the issue of working to increase safe conditions for everyone on the basis of a problem caused by common risks also gave rise to significant peer integration. This helped generate a fundamental drive for the subsequent involvement of young people in action plans beyond the activities of the project itself, keeping up their role in the community, as well as fostering the later commitment of local authorities to include the matter in the district’s agenda.

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List of References

Boesen, J.K.; Martin, T. (2007) Applying a Rights-based Approach: An Inspirational Guide for Civil Society. - Copenhagen, Denmark.

FAO. (2006). Rapid guide for missions. Analysing local institutions and livelihoods. - Rome, Italy.

ICRC (1999). ICRC Encomia Protection Seminars (1996-2000). - Geneva, Switzerland.

IIN-OAS (2010) Child participation in the Americas, 20 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 88 p, Montevideo, Uruguay.

IIN-OAS (2010) Menu of Indicators and Monitoring System for Children’s Right to Participation.

60p. Montevideo, Uruguay.

IIN-OAS (2011) A toolkit for the promotion and protection of child participation in the Americas / Participation as Creative Action. 74 p, Montevideo, Uruguay.

IPCC (2000). Glossary of Terms used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report WGII. - Geneva, Switzerland.

WHO (1993). Global Initiative on Life Skills Education in Schools UNDP (2011). Igualdad: América Latina Genera. - New York, USA. Save the Children International. (2011). Reducing Risks, Saving Lives: Save the Children’s approach to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. - London, UK. Save the Children UK. (2007). The Impact of Climate Change on Children. - United Kingdom [Spanish edition by Save the Children, Spain] (2009).

Save the Children.(2005).Practice Standards in Children’s Participation-London, United Kingdom.

Turnbull, Marillise et al. (2013). Towards resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. - London, UK. Twigg, John. (2007). Characteristics of a Disaster Resilient Community. Disaster Risk Reduction Interagency Coordination Group/UKAID. - London, UK. UNDP (1997). Governance for Sustainable Human Development. Division Bureau for Policy and Program Support. - New York, USA. UNICEF/PLAN. (2012). Building strong foundations: Programmatic guide for connecting early childhood development and DRR. - Panama, Rep. of Panama.

UNICEF-RET (2013). Actions for Children and Youth Resilience. Panama City, Panama.

UNISDR. (2005). Hyogo Framework for Action: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. - Geneva, Switzerland.

UNISDR. (2009). Disaster Risk Reduction Terminology. - Geneva, Switzerland.

UN-WOMEN. (2002). Gender Mainstreaming: Strategy For Promoting Gender Equality. - New York, USA. World Bank. (n.d.). Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Projects: Guidance Notes. - Washington, D.C. USA

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