Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building for Youth Leaders – Africa Programme
Between Dec 18-23, 2014, NGO Peace Boat, in cooperation with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), will host a special capacity building programme on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building for youth leaders from Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa and Kenya.
With the goals of building the capacity of young African leaders and strengthening regional cooperation on disaster risk reduction to reduce the impact of disasters and enhance community resilience, Japan-based NGO Peace Boat, in cooperation with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) through its Regional Office for Africa, will welcome young leaders from countries visited in Africa to take part in workshops onboard Peace Boat’s passenger ship as it circumnavigates the globe.
UNISDR and Peace Boat signed a cooperation agreement in June 2014, by which the international NGO agreed to raise awareness for the “Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready!” Global Campaign – led by UNISDR since 2010 – at the 60 ports of call of its educational voyage around the world between 2014 and 2015.
During the programme that starts on December 18, seven young people from Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa and Kenya will join the 900 passengers aboard this multicultural boat. They will participate in a training course, and share initiatives and experiences on disaster risk reduction and resilience building in their communities. They will also explore the relationships between disasters and other issues such as gender, education and sustainable development.
The participants will evaluate the existing challenges to strengthening resilience and potential solutions, and will have the opportunity to propose mechanisms for resilience building in the region. They will also discuss lessons learned from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan with those with first-hand experiences in the affected areas. Other disasters such as floods and tropical storms which affect both regions will also be evaluated.
The programme will be held from December 18 to 23 during the African segment of the 86th Peace Boat Global Voyage, between the ports of Maputo (Mozambique) and Cape Town (South Africa). At each port, press conferences will be conducted, along with field visits related to disaster risk reduction.
Programme Schedule:
– December 18, 2014: Participants gather in Maputo, Mozambique (boarding).
– December 19, 2014: Press Conference and Field Visit in Maputo, Mozambique.
– December 20, 2014: Onboard programme. Day at Sea.
– December 21, 2014: Onboard programme. Day at Sea.
– December 22, 2014: Onboard programme. Day at Sea.
– December 23, 2014: Final session and Press Conference in Cape Town, South Africa (disembarking).
– Download this PRESS RELEASE as a PDF file here.
– Download participants and facilitators’ profiles here.
For more information, please contact:
Robin Lewis, Programme Coordinator, Peace Boat’s Diaster Relief Volunteer Center – robin(a)peaceboat.gr.jp
Juan Carlos Uribe, International Coordinator, Peace Boat – carlos(a)peaceboat.gr.jp
About the “Making Cities Resilient” Global Campaign:
More than 2000 cities around the world have joined the UNISDR-led campaign and are working to make their communities more resilient to disasters. The Global Campaign is based on 10 essentials for developing local resilience, which in turn build on the 5 priorities for action of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), adopted by UN Member States for the period 2005-2015 to increase the resilience of communities and nations through disaster risk reduction.
About Peace Boat:
Peace Boat is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization that works to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment through global educational programmes on global peace voyages. Peace Boat has carried out emergency relief operations for the past 19 years all over the world by delivering emergency assistance and raising funds, as well as coordinating the dispatch of experienced logisticians, interpreters and volunteer teams. One of our main operations has been the coordination, training and dispatch of thousands of volunteers after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011.
