Record number of students at High School Students Summit in Japan
Students from around the world gathered to discuss, learn from each other, and reaffirm their commitment to disaster risk reduction
Kumamoto, 24 October, 2024 - The High School Students Summit on World Tsunami Awareness Day 2024, held in Japan's Kumamoto prefecture on 23 and 24 October, broke records as the largest and most inclusive to date.
The Summit, which is in its 6th edition and was last held in 2022 in Niigata, Japan, is designed to commemorate World Tsunami Awareness Day by encouraging young people to embrace a culture of disaster prevention and empower them to play a central role in enhancing the resilience of their communities as youth leaders and ambassadors.
This year's Summit succeeded in drawing in more young people from across the globe than ever before, with the participation of 313 students from 78 high schools in Japan and 213 students from more than 40 countries, for a total of 526 students.
In workshops, participating students discussed how to address disaster risks to come up with their action plans
Similar to past hosts of the summit, Kumamoto Prefecture, has a history of being struck by a variety of natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and heavy rain.
Over the two days of the summit, students participated in workshops where they presented their research findings and discussed how to address disaster risks. The workshops were divided into three themes: "Disaster prevention through self-help and mutual assistance", "Disaster risk reduction in harmony with nature", and "Creative reconstruction based on lessons learned from major disasters".
At the General Meeting on the second day, representatives from each group presented what they had learned and their proposals for action plans to support their communities.
In workshops, participating students presented their research findings and learnt from each other
Speaking by video at the Closing Ceremony on 24 October, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Kamal Kishore, stressed the significance of this year's summit as it coincides with the 20 year anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, noting that "despite the progress made in the last 20 years, much more is needed, especially around investing in our youth to create a culture of disaster prevention. That is why on this 9th anniversary of World Tsunami Awareness Day, we are calling on countries to Empower the next generation for a resilient future".
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Kamal Kishore sent his video message to the summit
The summit concluded with the adoption of the "Kumamoto 'KIZUNA' (Bonds) Declaration," which was drafted by the participating students. This declaration highlights the important actions they identified during the summit to improve their own capacity for disaster prevention, disaster risk reduction, and disaster recovery.
The declaration concludes with a commitment to putting into practice the lessons from past disasters and communicating them to the world: "We are thankful for the blessings of nature, but we also recognize the dangers it presents. We will continue to promote disaster prevention, disaster risk reduction and reconstruction efforts together with the friends and the "KIZUNA" (bonds) we have formed here, as disaster prevention leaders".
The summit concluded with the adoption of the "Kumamoto 'KIZUNA' (Bonds) Declaration" which was read by the Chairperson and the Vice Chairpersons of the summit.
During the closing press conference, the Chairperson of the Summit, Ms. Chisa Kawai, who is a 2nd year student at the Kumamoto High School, said "Through the discussions of various topics and the consolidation exercises of different views expressed, I have been quite impressed by every body's supportive attitude, including the respect paid to different views and different cultures".
In addition to two days of activities during the summit, and the students completed study tours in advance of the summit, which deepened the 'kizuna' or bonds between them and paved the way for their collaboration on disaster risk reduction and building resilience for the future.
Students participated from the following countries: Angola, Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Türkiye, Tuvalu, USA, Vanuatu, and Viet Nam.
The Summit was organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Kobe Office, Kumamoto Prefectural Government, Kumamoto Prefectural Board of Education, Kumamoto City, and Kumamoto City Board of Education. It was supported by: National Resilience Promotion Headquarters; Director General for Disaster Management, Cabinet Office of Japan; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan; Japan Meteorological Agency; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).
The first High Students Summit was held in Kochi prefecture in 2016, the year after the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution that designated 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) in December 2015. In 2017, the High School Students Islands Summit on WTAD was held in Okinawa, followed by summits in Wakayama in 2018, Hokkaido in 2019, and Niigata in 2022.
This summit was made possible through the generous funding of the Government of Japan, which supports UNDRR through annual WTAD funds.
The summit was concluded with various local performances by high schools in Kumamoto prefecture