European-Union funded project raises awareness about disaster preparedness in Astana, Kazakhstan
Astana, 17 September – On Saturday, as part of the International Disaster Risk Reduction Day and Rescuer’s Day in Kazakhstan, 80 schoolchildren from 4 different schools, aged between 14 and 16, participated in an event entitled “Rules of conduct in emergency situations of natural and man-made nature”, which was funded by the European Union, and organized by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan in coordination with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The event aimed to raise awareness amongst children and youth about disaster prevention, reducing disaster-related injuries, and ensuring safety in emergency situations. Students participated in educational activities and games related to disaster risk reduction. These included drafting an evacuation plan for the event location and creating “safe behaviour” cards for different types of emergencies.
The students were also provided practical presentations on how to distinguish a fire with an extinguisher and to throw lifebuoys. Finally, they also received special training sessions on providing first aid in emergency situations.
Background information
The EU-funded project “Strengthening disaster resilience and accelerating the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Central Asia”, implemented by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), supports countries of the region in implementing the Sendai Framework priorities. The project supports strengthening regional coordination, development of regional DRR strategy, national disaster loss accounting systems, and community-level disaster risk reduction. On the local level, the project supports the development of disaster resilience strategies of capital cities. For this project, the EU committed EUR 3,750,000 for the three-year implementation.
For additional information please contact
Mr. Abdurahim Muhidov, UNDRR Regional Programme Coordinator, at: [email protected]
Delegation of the European Union to Kazakhstan, at: [email protected]