Child Centered Disaster Management Planning

Disaster management planning in India is gradually shifting from an exercise in post-emergency ad-hocism to one that encourages long term planning for preparedness. This issue of Southasiadisasters.net focuses on the theme of 'Child Centered Disaster Management Planning in India.' As widespread poverty and climate change exacerbate the risk of disasters on children, it is time to embed corrective policy mechanisms that protect children against such risks. State and district disaster management plans are the instruments through which this objective can be accomplished.

This issue highlights the ways in which children's rights to safety can be upheld in India. Most notably, the traditional knowledge of communities in reducing the risks of hazards has been discussed. Special attention has also been accorded to how the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) enshrines the protection of children against disaster risks. This issue's contents includes: (i) Child Centered Disaster Risk Reduction in Long Term Recovery; (ii) Communities Addressing Local Risks; (iii) Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction; (iv) Views of Ahmedabad Youth on Disaster Risk Reduction; (v) Sendai Disaster Risk Reduction Framework Fails Millions at Risk of Disasters; (vi) Key Challenges in Vulnerability Assessment: A Personal Anecdote from the Field; (vii) Drought in Bangladesh: Recent Work and Plans of IUBAT; (viii) Skills for Safety: Possible Areas for Disaster Risk Reduction in North East India; (ix) Leveraging Risk at Local Level: Support and Facilitation of Civil Society towards Formulation of DDMPs in India; and (x) AIDMI's Commitment to India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).