 March 2, 2004—Finding ways to help people in poor countries mitigate natural disasters is the core of the ProVention Consortium. In 2003, this global coalition dedicated to risk management invited young people from developing countries to submit their ideas in a worldwide competition to develop innovative ways to reduce the impacts of natural hazards. Winners received grants of up to $5,000 to turn their ideas into action. The competition, open to students and professionals under the age of 35, generated more than 100 proposals from more than 27 countries. T he proposals covered diverse topics including: - Disaster mitigation
- Disaster risk reduction
- Analysis of past disasters to derive lessons
The ProVention Consortium publicized the competition through partner organizations, including three major disaster management centers that are experienced in dealing with disasters on all continents and have excellent networks of professionals and researchers: - Disaster Management Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
- Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, Thailand
- Cranfield Disaster Management Centre, the United Kingdom
Grants were awarded to 65 applicants, who are now wrapping up their projects under the guidance of more experienced mentors. "The competition has been very successful. But the real results will come out this summer when we publish and disseminate these research findings. We hope their outcomes will be useful to others grappling with similar problems elsewhere," says Don Schramm, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Disaster Management Center, which co-coordinated the grants program logistics with the World Bank's Hazard Management Unit. A winning project example
Creating an Emergency Resource Center in Tajikistan Tajikistan is a mountainous country in Central Asia prone to landslides, avalanches, mudflows and earthquakes. Years of environmental degradation have increased the frequency of these events becoming disasters. Each year Tajikistan experiences - 50,000 landslides
- 5,000 tremors and earthquakes
- hundreds of avalanches and debris flows
These events exacerbate poverty and hinder economic progress in this impoverished country, where more than 80 percent of the population is poor. Tajikistan, however, needs to strengthen its ability to to anticipate and mitigate potential disasters. Overall, people are neither well prepared nor informed about what causes disasters, how to prevent them, and how to prepare for them. 
There are no specialized services and organizations in Tajikistan that offer consultation and information about this topic. Schools do not address this issue in classes. There are no textbooks, manuals, or other publications on emergencies for children, teachers, and non-governmental organizations. "Tajikistan is a 'disaster area.' People are concerned with natural disasters, but they start to take action only after something happens," explains Timur Idrisov, one of the grant winners. "Those who try to prepare for disasters have trouble finding relevant information or publications." To fill this gap, Idrisov proposed to establish the first Emergencies Resource Center in Tajikistan in his grant application to the ProVention Consortium. Over the course of the past six months, the Center has held workshops to educate people on how to prepare for disasters and how to deal with the consequences. It primarily reached out to teachers, school children, and NGO representatives. Since there was a dearth of written material, it developed its own publications. "The workshops focused on how to correctly behave before, during and after earthquakes, fires, landslides, mudflows, and floods," says Idrisov. "We showed them that it is possible and necessary to prepare for emergencies. By using simple measures they now understand that they can minimize the consequences of disasters, sometimes even prevent them, and most importantly, save their lives and lives of other family members." To illustrate the dangers of disasters, the Center used creative hands-on approaches. 
"In one exercise, children and their parents engaged in a 'hazards hunt,' where they looked for dangerous things at home and made them safer. They put together a family safety plan, and practiced how to prepare an emergency bag or an escape bag." So far, some 700 teachers, parents, students, and representatives of local organizations have participated in the project. "We focused on these groups because they will further publicize and help educate others about precautions people can take to be better prepared when a disaster strikes," Idrisov said. Already, the Center has become a catalyst for similar disaster preparedness activities elsewhere. Other groups have requested help in organizing similar workshops in their towns. Similar initiatives have taken place in Khudjand (Tajikistan), Khartsyzsk (Ukraine), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). School administrations have now become interested in this subject, and several schools have added classes during extra-curricular hours. "Children and teachers are interested in disaster preparedness activities, and have expressed desire to continue such work in the future," Idrisov says. Visit ProVention Consortium online to read about these, and other, winning proposals: - South Africa: mitigating the spread of forest fires resulting from honey-hunters
- Philippines: mapping of coastal erosion
- Bulgaria: training youth in emergency preparedness and first aid techniques
- Argentina: studying the awareness of earthquake risk among people in the province of Mendoza
Related Links
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