BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance creating the Children and Youth Emergency Risk Reduction Management Program in the city.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Leandro B. Yangot, Jr. stated that it will be a declared policy of the local government to involve the children and the youth in worthy community projects that will contribute to the furtherance of their educational experiences, socio-civic skills and other potentials for their personal and community development.
The ordinance stipulated that the emergency and disaster risk reduction management training, drills and workshops for children and youth shall cover public and private schools, the 128 barangays in the city, high rise buildings and youth clubs, organizations and associations.
Yangot underscored it is important that the private sector contributes to the safety of the population with special preference for the young, and administrators of malls, hotels, and other high rise buildings will be directed to conduct regular fire and earthquake drills in coordination with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC)–Disaster Operations Center.
Further, the ordinance added that it will be vital for educational institutions in the city to come up with school safety policies and integrate disaster risk reduction into their curriculum.
On the other hand, the ordinance stipulated that every barangay formulate its own disaster risk reduction management plan and all they have to do is include children and the youth in their own programs.
The ordinance mandated the CDRRMC to formulate training course modules and simulation drills for children and the youth which shall include, but not limited to basic rescue operation, first aid, map reading, drafting the needed action plan for the community, setting up evacuation routes, food, fire, earthquake and typhoon drills, learning how to use the different tools and assessing the vulnerability of a community and learning practical examples of mitigating disasters.
The ordinance disclosed there are several available child-centered disaster risk reduction tool kits that can be adopted by the CDRRMC focusing on training children on disaster risk reduction through hazard vulnerability and capacity assessment, planning, monitoring and evaluating child-centered programs, action planning with children on disaster risk reduction and advocacy with children on disaster risk reduction.
The ordinance claimed that in any endeavor to be successful, there is a need for the local government to collaborate with other concerned stakeholders, both local and national, for the successful conduct of the activities lined up for the program implementation.
Moreover, all trainings and seminars undertaken shall be properly documented and preserved for evaluation and the effectiveness of the training course modules must be measured by more children and youth participation in rescue, relief, and rehabilitation phases of a disaster.
The course stated that a course certification shall be given to students every time they finish the course and shall be promoted to another level of training to give them a sense of accomplishment and help build their self-confidence.
The CDRRMC and each barangay shall allocate a substantial amount for children and youth empowerment.
By Dexter A. See
