One Million Safe Schools & Hospitals Campaign

1. One Million SafeSchools& Hospitals Campaign Dr. G.S. Ayyangar, Joint Secretary National Disaster Management Authority

2. India- Vulnerability • About 85% area vulnerable to one or multiple disasters • Over 59% land area vulnerable to earthquake • 5% of land (40 million hectares) to floods • 8% of land (8,000 km coastline) to cyclones • Incidence of disasters increasing • Risk in Urban areas becoming a concern • 2% of GDP was lost during 1996-2001 due to Natural hazard-induced disasters • Reallocation of development funds for post disaster activities hamper development

3. Schools and Hospitals Damaged schools mean decrease in the quality of education due to disruption of classes, damage/collapse of building When hospitals and health facilities are destroyed, treatment of the sick and victims get affected - posing greater challenge in saving victims’ lives. Creating resilient communities includes ensuring safety of hospitals and schools and their functioning during and after an emergency.

4. Impact of Disasters on Schools 2001 Gujarat earthquake: 971 students and 31 teachers died. 2004, Kumbhkonam fire tragedy: 94 children killed. 2004, Tsunami: Thousands of children and many teachers died or were missing in Tamil Nadu, and Andaman-Nicobar Islands. 2005, Kashmir earthquake: Around 17,000 children died and 2,448 schools collapsed Impact of Disasters on Hospitals 2001, Gujarat Earthquake: 1813 health facilities destroyed and 3812 partially damaged. 2004, Tsunami: 61% of health facilities were damaged in Indonesia’s northern Aceh province. 2008, Cyclone Nargis: 57% of all health facilities were damaged and one in five completely destroyed in Myanmar.

5. One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals Campaign- 2010-11 To facilitate nations achieve HFA Goals, UNISDR has been advocating globally to make schools and hospitals safer from disasters. Launched “2010Making Cities Resilient’ Campaign; 2006-2007 ‘Safe Schools’ Campaign and the 2008-2009 ‘Safe Hospitals’ Campaign .

6. Global Campaign- Aim • Encourage individuals, families, communities, organizations, Governments, business units or any other entity to make a pledge to make schools and/or hospitals safer. • Protect the lives of school children and the sick by ensuring that proper safety measures are installed. • Assure continuity of functions of hospitals and health facilities for the treatment of the sick, and provide safe havens in schools at all times. • Improve the risk reduction capacity of all stakeholders of schools, educational institutions, hospitals and health facilities.

7. Individuals (students, parents, teachers, patients, doctors, nurses, etc.) Communities, CBOs/NGOs, institutions Local, state and national governments Business groups and corporations Donors Possible target audience

8. Possible types of pledges As an advocate to make people aware about safe schools and hospitals As a leader in emergency and disaster preparedness by taking actions on prevention, mitigation and preparedness, and As a champion for risk reduction by taking actions on disaster risk reduction

9. India Campaign- Approach • Communication and follow-up through print media, radio, television, internet, mobile (SMS), billboards • Advocacy with elected representatives and local authorities, civil society organizations, academic institutions and general masses. • Focus to include dialogue and local action • Involve District/state and national concerned Departments/Ministries • Engage with Civil society, academic institutions and professional bodies • Promote partnership mode with assigned roles and responsibilities for awareness, capacity building, and monitoring

10. Examples of Actions of a Safe School/Hospital Advocate (Awareness) • Provide access to individuals to download the poster about safe schools or hospitals from the Campaign website and post it in classrooms, hospital offices, etc. • A School student could send a letter to school principal or to improve the safety conditions of the school. • A Teacher could give safety lessons to students. • Host a poster-making contest on safe schools/hospitals. • A theater group could present a stage play on what people should or should not do during a disaster. • Organize safety awareness week. • Media could feature best safety practices in a specific school or hospital

11. Examples of Actions of an Emergency Preparedness Leader (Preparedness) • Prepare a Do-It-Yourself safety kit. • A teacher could practice earthquake drills with students. • The school principal could schedule regular emergency drills (e.g. fire, evacuation, etc.). • Doctors/nurses could teach first aid lessons to students. • Hospital administration could constitute a safety and disaster preparedness committee to review the hospital’s existing systems. • A student council could create a committee addressing safety issues in the university. • TV network could produce and distribute videos on emergency preparedness.

12. Examples of Actions of a Risk Reduction Champion (Risk Reduction) • A student could make a list of unsafe facilities (e.g. broken windows, open electrical wire, etc) • A teacher could prepare safety and emergency signs (e.g. emergency exit, evacuation route) in schools. • Parents-Teachers Association could donate fire extinguishers. • The hospital maintenance staff could request for replacement of non-working fire or smoke alarms. • Civil engineers or architects association could volunteer to conduct seismic assessments of schools or hospitals. • The building administrator could initiate vulnerability assessment of facilities and equipment. • A minister can announce that all schools in the country will be assessed for safety from possible disaster by a certain date

13. We need to discuss: • Duration of the campaign • Scope and Actions required • Partners: National, state, district and below • Implementation mechanisms (on-going national, state programmes, etc) • Monitoring mechanisms

14. Thanks