Disaster preparedness in layman’s terms

A national campaign to bring awareness of natural hazards such as earthquakes, storms, and flooding to local communities has been launched in Bangladesh. The campaign encourages university students and journalists around the country to act as advocates for better preparedness to disasters, which pose a growing threat to the citizens of the country.

Implemented by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) with support from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the programme trains journalists to better pass the message of disaster preparedness to the public.

In addition, more than 500 university students from different study fields in Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna are trained on disaster preparedness, and encouraged to share their reports on the topic online as part of a national competition called iPrepare.

Every year, more than 10 million people in Bangladesh are affected by disasters, and the economic damages rise up to more than USD 0.5 million. ADPC actively supports the Bangladesh government in disaster preparedness through risk assessments and capacity building. More information about the campaign can be found at: www.adpc.net/iprepare