Youth Encouraged To Be Active In Disaster Risk Management And Preparedness Efforts
By: , June 1, 2022
Photo: Michael Sloley
Director General at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Richard Thompson (right), shares a moment with the 2022 ODPEM Youth Ambassadors (from left) Cornwall College’s Curtis Clennon and Ardenne High’s Lianna Jones. Occasion was a sashing ceremony held at The Courtleigh Hotel on Tuesday, May 31.
Photo: Michael Sloley
2022 ODPEM Youth Ambassadors, Lianna Jones (left) and Curtis Clennon (centre) engage in conversation with their predecessor, 2021 ODPEM Youth Ambassador, Kyla Gaynor. Occasion was a sashing ceremony held at The Courtleigh Hotel on Tuesday, May 31.The Full Story
Jamaican youth are being encouraged to take up active participation in the country’s disaster risk management and preparedness efforts.
Director General at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Richard Thompson, says the role of youth in sustaining the agency’s mandate is “pivotal”.
Mr. Thompson was speaking at a sashing ceremony for the 2022 ODPEM Youth Ambassadors, on Tuesday, May 31 at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston.
“It is imperative for sharp focus to be placed on the needs of youth and for their participation in disaster risk reduction to be encouraged,” Mr. Thompson said, noting that persons below the age of 30 represent half of the world’s population.
He pointed out that this age group is one of the most vulnerable of the society and is severely impacted by disasters in different variabilities, seen through “their physical, mental and psychosocial state, access to education, nutrition and general economic output”.
Mr. Thompson added that climate change exacerbates these risks as the country experiences more severe and more frequent events.
By getting involved in disaster risk management, young people can increase awareness among their peers, open discussions around the measures and adequate activities required to protect their families and wider communities, as well as assist their communities to identify and map certain risks, according to Mr. Thompson.
Additionally, he noted that youth can bring much needed “creative ideas and resources” to disaster risk management.
The programme is one of the ways in which young people are targeted to become involved in disaster reduction measures by the government agency.
This year, Ardenne High School’s Lianna Jones and Cornwall College’s Curtis Clennon will take up the mantle and use their reign to spread the word of disaster risk management in their peer groups, via social media platforms and through mainstream media engagements.
In her acceptance speech, Miss Jones said: “We [as youth ambassadors] will work tirelessly to educate young people about the need to improve disaster preparedness and management and help to create a new sustainable way of living in Jamaica”.