Jonalyn S.

Castro Grade 10 - Agoncillo

Bottom up disaster risk reduction

In the lead up to The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, set
for Sendai, Japan in March, UNDP is reflecting on a decade of support to help
countries achieve the goals of the Hyogo Framework for Action.

Located in the Eastern part of the country, Semey, along with other towns in
southeastern and eastern Kazakhstan, are particularly vulnerable to natura l hazards. In
addition to flooding, settlements suffer from extreme cold, earthquakes, mudslides and
landslides.

To reduce risk in these communities, DIPECHO, in partnership with UNDP, the Red
Crescent Society of Kazakhstan and the Kazakhstan Ministry of Emergency Services,
initiated 'Reducing Disaster Risk with the Involvement of Local Communities in
Southeast and East Kazakhstan,' an effort to strengthen resilience in the region.

Between January and May 2013, volunteers from the Red Crescent Society condu cted
trainings in 15 schools in the Semey region, teaching over 4,000 students how to react
during disasters. Topics covered included what to do during an evacuation, staying warm
in extreme cold, identifying the symptoms of hypothermia and performing life -saving first
aid.

Students energetically participated in first aid training and more than half of them noted
they had been in first-aid situations at least once in the past. The course provided
hands-on training on how to make splints, how to bandage and stop bleeding, how to
treat wounds and burns and how to lay an injured person in the recovery position.

In addition to the local level school awareness, Kazakhstan has supported trainings in
disaster risk reduction principals and tools; worked with members of villages and towns
to develop ‘hazard maps' for their areas; and, in the towns of Tekeli, Syrymbet and
Karabulak, worked with local administrators to create effective ways of collecting and
disseminating data that can make risk monitoring more effective.